The Halo orbit has been assigned to the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, providing it with an excellent point from which to study the Sun without interference from eclipses.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft of the Indian Space Research Organization has reached its destination after an ambitious four-month journey covering 1.5 million kilometers. It has been placed in the halo orbit, an advantageous location from which it can study the sun without interference from eclipses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who broke the big news on X (formerly Twitter) and commended the space agency for the achievement, stated, “India creates yet another landmark.
He declared, “I am celebrating this amazing achievement with the country. We will keep pushing the boundaries of science for the good of humanity.”
“Another great achievement by ISRO!” said President Droupadi Murmu. “The observatory has been placed in the final orbit and has reached its destination at Lagrange Point 1 as part of India’s maiden solar mission, Aditya L1!”
Aditya-L1 is ISRO’s first mission to study the Sun; Nigar Shaji is a scientist at the UR Rao Satellite Centre, part of ISRO, in Bengaluru, and he is the project director for India’s first space-based solar observatory. The president welcomed the women’s participation in the expedition.
“A glorious turn of the year for Bharat!” exclaimed Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, referring to it as ISRO’s “Sun Dance.”
“With the arrival of India’s first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, we join the nation in celebrating an extraordinary milestone by our dedicated scientists and space engineers at ISRO,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, expressing his satisfaction in the country’s sungazing endeavors.
“Our scientists proposed a solar observatory with a single instrument for the Sun in 2006, and that is how India began its journey to the Sun,” the speaker said.
Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis declared, “It is a proud moment indeed for Indians.”
Aditya-L1: What Will It Do?
A solar storm is a massive magnetic eruption on the sun that can have an impact on the entire solar system. The space observatory will monitor the changing space weather and alert scientists to unfavorable events, such as flares and solar storms, that could interfere with satellite operations.
Chairman of ISRO S. Somanath had told NDTV that Aditya-L1’s ability to continuously monitor the sun would allow it to warn us of impending solar electromagnetic effects on Earth and protect our satellites and other power, electrical, and communications networks from disruptions. This will help maintain normal operations by running them in safe modes until the solar storm passes by.
As per Mr. Somnath, India possesses assets in orbit valued at more than ₹ 50,000 crores, which include more than 50 functioning satellites that require safeguarding against solar radiation.
Using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors, the seven-payload Aditya-L1 spacecraft will also carry out scientific studies to learn more about the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun, or the corona.
Constructed at an estimated cost of ₹ 400 crore, the nearly 1,500 kg satellite will serve as the first space-based observatory in India to study the sun at a distance of nearly 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The Lagrange-1 point, also known as the L1 point, represents merely 1% of the estimated 148 million kilometers that separate Earth and the Sun.