Aditya L-1 was launched to observe the Sun's corona and understand its extreme heat from a halo orbit 
Special 
Aditya L-1 was launched to observe the Sun's corona and understand its extreme heat from a halo orbit Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) maiden solar mission, Aditya L1, is all set for its final orbit insertion to reach its destination. ISRO will be attempting a crucial manoeuvre to bind the spacecraft to an orbit around L1 on Saturday at around 4 pm.
ISRO chief S Somanath on Monday said: "Aditya-L1 is going to reach its L1 point on January 6 at 4pm and we are going to do the final manoeuvre to keep it there."
Following the insertion, the satellite, which was launched from Sriharikota on September 2, is expected to stay in the strategic location, L1 or Lagrange Point 1 for the next five years. Situated approximately 1.5 million km away from Earth, the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) is one of the five spots in the moving Sun-Earth system, where the gravitational effects of the two bodies roughly balance each other.
Upon reaching its final destination, the spacecraft will be able to view the sun without any eclipses. Aditya L-1 was launched to observe the Sun's corona and understand its extreme heat from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1).
Isro recently said that the spacecraft had already covered most of the distance to its destination.
Once Aditya-L1 reaches the final parking spot it will be able to orbit the Sun at the same rate as the Earth. From this vantage point, it will be able to watch the Sun constantly, even during eclipses and occultations, and carry out scientific studies.
Earlier, Somanath said that they would trap the craft in orbit and would occasionally need to do more manoeuvres to keep it in place.
Earlier after the launch, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru carried out four earth-bound manoeuvres between September 3 and September 15.
On September 19, Aditya-L1 underwent the Trans-Lagrangian1 insertion manoeuvre, which started its 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 point.
On January 6 at approximately around 4 pm, ISRO scientists from the Mission Operations Complex of ISTRAC will perform the manoeuvre that will insert Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1.
The propulsion system of the spacecraft comprises the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) engine plus eight 22 Newton thrusters and four 10 Newton thrusters which will be intermittently fired to perform the manoeuvre.
ISRO previously stated that a satellite positioned in the halo orbit around the L1 point offers the significant benefit of having uninterrupted visibility of the Sun without any occultation or eclipse.
This enables continuous observation of solar activities, providing a distinct advantage. Aditya-L1 is equipped with seven payloads designed to study the photosphere, chromosphere, and the corona (the outermost layers of the Sun) using electromagnetic and particle detectors. Four of these payloads will directly observe the Sun from the advantageous L1 position, while the remaining three will conduct in-situ studies of particles and fields at the L1 location.
Earlier, ISRO chief Somanath had said that the data would be very useful in understanding the dynamics of the Sun and how it affects our lives.
“Once it is successfully placed on L1 point, it will be there for the next five years, gathering all the data which are very important not for India alone but for the entire world," the ISRO chief said.
Copyright©2025 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today
