ISRO corrects Aditya-L1 trajectory from afar

ISRO on Sunday, 8 October, said it has performed a trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM) on Aditya L1 spacecraft, the country's maiden solar mission.

The Indian space agency also said the spacecraft was healthy.

"The spacecraft is healthy and on its way to Sun–Earth L1. A trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM), originally provisioned, was performed on 6 October 2023, for about 16 seconds," ISRO said on X, formerly Twitter.

It was needed to correct the trajectory evaluated after tracking the trans-Lagrangean point 1 insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre performed on 19 September 19, it added.

Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space-based observatory to study the sun, from its halo orbit around the first sun–earth Lagrange point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from earth.

According to ISRO, the TCM ensures that the spacecraft remains on its intended path in the halo orbit insertion around L1.

"As Aditya-L1 continues to move ahead, the magnetometer will be turned on again within a few days," the agency said..

Aditya-L1 was successfully launched on September 2 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.

The spacecraft, after traveling about 1.5 million km from the earth's surface over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point L1.

Among others, it will send pictures of the sun for scientific experiments.