ISRO On Sunday proudly announced the successful execution of the first Earth-bound maneuver for India’s pioneering solar mission, Aditya L1, conducted from ISTRAC in Bengaluru. The space agency further confirmed that the satellite is in excellent health and is operating as expected.
ISRO shared this exciting update on ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter, stating, “Aditya-L1 Mission: The satellite is healthy and operating nominally. The first Earth-bound maneuver (EBN#1) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The new orbit attained is 245km x 22459 km.”
Aditya-L1: When is the next maneuver?
The subsequent maneuver, labeled as EBN#2, is slated for September 5, 2023, around 03:00 Hrs. IST, marking the next milestone in this remarkable mission, ISRO announced.
Aditya L1 embarked on its journey on Sept 2, launching from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This ambitious mission is designed to explore the outer atmosphere of the sun, positioning India’s inaugural solar observatory at the Sun-Earth L1 point. The “L1” stands for Lagrange point 1, where the spacecraft will be stationed.
Remarkably, the satellite initiated power generation after the deployment of its solar panels. ISRO clarified that Aditya-L1 will maintain a distance of approximately 1.5 million km from Earth, with its focus directed towards the Sun. This distance represents just one percent of the Earth-Sun distance, ensuring that the satellite neither lands on nor gets too close to the Sun during its mission.