Science
Aditya-L1 Orbit Raised A Second Time; New Orbit Swings Solar Craft Over 40,000 km Away
An illustration of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft after it has been deployed, depicted in an ISRO mission booklet
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday (5 September) raised the orbit of India's first-ever solar spacecraft, Aditya-L1, a second time since launch last Saturday (2 September).
The new orbit attained is 282 km x 40,225 km. At its farthest point in the orbit around Earth, Aditya-L1 is over 40,000 km away.
The second Earth-bound manoeuvre was executed successfully from the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru, early in the day, at around 2.45 am.
ISRO posted an update on X soon after, at 3 am.
"ISTRAC/ISRO's ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation," the space agency said.
The next move to raise Aditya-L1's orbit will take place at around 2.30 am, India time, on Sunday, 10 September.
Five Earth-bound manoeuvres are planned for Aditya-L1, each one taking the solar craft further away from Earth. By the end of it, Aditya-L1 will have picked up the velocity necessary for a long journey to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1.
Then begins an approximately 110-day journey to the vicinity of L1.
Once Aditya-L1 nears its destination, ISRO will execute a manoeuvre to bind the spacecraft to an orbit around L1.
The total journey time from Earth to L1, spanning a distance of about 15 lakh kilometres, is estimated to be about four months.
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