First earth-bound manoeuvre of Aditya L1 performed successfully, says ISRO

ISRO on Sunday said it has successfully performed the first earth-bound manoeuvre of the country’s maiden solar mission, Aditya L1, from ISTRAC here.

The space agency also said the satellite is healthy and operating nominally.

The next manoeuvre is scheduled for September 5, 2023, around 03:00 hrs. (IST).

• Also read: Aditya L1 lifts off successfully, Moon done for India, over to the Sun now

“Aditya-L1 Mission: The satellite is healthy and operating nominally. The first Earth-bound maneuvre (EBN#1) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The new orbit attained is 245km x 22459 km. The next maneuvre (EBN#2) is scheduled for September 5, 2023, around 03:00 hrs. (IST),” ISRO said in an update on ‘X’, formerly Twitter.

Aditya L1 was launched on Saturday from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The mission aims to study the outer atmosphere of the sun by placing India’s first solar observatory at the Sun-Earth L1 point.

• Alsp read: After the Moon, India begins mission to study the Sun

L1 stands for Lagrange point 1, where the spacecraft would be stationed.

The satellite started generating power after the solar panels were deployed.

According to ISRO, Aditya-L1 will stay approximately 1.5 million km away from Earth, directed towards the Sun, which is about one per cent of the earth-sun distance. It will neither land on the Sun nor approach the Sun any closer.