Aditya L-1 performs third earth-bound maneuvre successfully, next maneuvre scheduled for Sept 15: ISRO  

Aditya L-1 news: Aditya L-1 spacecraft, Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) maiden space-based mission to study the Sun, on Sunday completed its third Earth-bound maneuvre (EBM) successfully. The operation was performed by the space agency’s Telemetry, Trqacking and Command Network (ISTRAC) based in Bengaluru.

The space agency also said that the next Earth-bound maneuvre for Aditya L-1 is scheduled to take place on September 15. ISRO further mentioned that the new orbit attained is at 296km x 71,767 km.  

"The third Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#3) is successfully completed from ISTRAC, Bengaluru." "During this operation, ISRO's ground stations in Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR, and Port Blair tracked the satellite," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a post on social media site X formerly known as Twitter.

Earlier this week, ISRO shared images of the Earth and the Moon taken from the camera onboard the Aditya L-1 on September 4. "Aditya-L1, destined for the Sun-Earth L1 point,  takes a selfie and images of the Earth and the Moon," said ISRO in a post on X.

Also Read: Aditya-L1 mission: ISRO says second Earth-bound manoeuvre performed successfully; next EBM on Sept 10

The first and second Earth-bound movements of the spacecraft took place on September 3 and 5 respectively. Before entering the transfer orbit towards Lagrange point L1, the spacecraft will perform one final earthbound orbital maneuvre. A total of five maneuvres will be carried out during Aditya L-1’s 16-day journey beyond the Earth.

EBMs are the orbit-raising maneuvres that are performed at Earth’s perigee or the farthest point in the orbit of the planet. Aditya L-1 is India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system, around 1.5 million km away from the Earth. At this point, the spacecraft will be able to view the Sun without any eclipses or occultation.

India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun will observe solar activities and its effect on space weather in real-time. Aditya L-1 will also study the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.

The spacecraft is equipped with seven scientific payloads dedicated to conducting a systematic exploration of the Sun. Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer are designed to analyse X-ray flares emitted by the Sun across a broad X-ray energy spectrum.

Also Read: Aditya-L1 takes a selfie! ISRO shares images of Earth and the Moon taken by Aditya-L1