ISRO's Aditya-L1 reaches Lagrange Point 1 to study the Sun; PM Modi lauds 'extraordinary feat'

Aditya L1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s ambitious debut mission to study the Sun, has reached its final destination after the space organisation performed the final manoeuvre at 4 PM today. With this, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is finally in the halo orbit and can study the Sun from the  Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. The L1 point is about 1.5 million km from the Earth and 1 per cent of the total distance between the Earth and the Sun.

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. 

ISRO, its first statement after the insertion, said: “The Sun is a very dynamic star that extends much beyond what we see. It shows several eruptive phenomena and releases immense amounts of energy in the solar system. If such explosive solar phenomena is directed towards the earth, it could cause various types of disturbances in the near-earth space environment.” 

Lauding the achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "India creates yet another landmark. India’s first solar observatory, Aditya-L1 reaches its destination."

He added: "It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity."

After the insertion, Aditya L1 will now go through a commissioning phase following which it will begin observing the Sun to better understand how the star in our solar system not just powers life on Earth.

The spacecraft has successfully performed a series of manoeuvres and headed towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), having escaped the Earth's sphere of influence. It is equipped with seven payloads designed to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.

The seven payloads of Aditya L1 are developed by various laboratories in India. The VELC instrument is created at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. The SUIT instrument is developed at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune. The ASPEX instrument is made at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. The PAPA payload is produced at the Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The SoLEXS and HEL1OS payloads are manufactured at the U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bangalore. Lastly, the Magnetometer payload is constructed at the Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems, Bangalore.

Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer are designed to study the X-ray flares from the Sun over a wide X-ray energy range.