Aditya-L1: Mauritius Station Key to India’s Epic Solar Mission

The Mauritius-based ground station of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has reportedly played a crucial role in the latest advancement of India’s groundbreaking space mission, Aditya-L1, designed to study the sun.

ISRO’s launch vehicle PSLV-C57 rocket carrying India’s first solar mission, ‘Aditya-L1’, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota.Credit: PTI

Early this Sunday, 10 September, the ISRO successfully executed the third earth-bound manoeuvre, propelling the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into a higher orbit. The new trajectory measures 296 km x 71767 km, as confirmed by ISRO.

This critical operation was orchestrated from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network. Throughout the manoeuvre, the satellite’s progress was closely monitored by ISRO’s ground stations, including those in Mauritius, Bengaluru, Port Blair, and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR).

The upcoming earth-bound manoeuvre, the fourth in a series of five, is scheduled for September 15, approximately at 2 am. Since its launch on September 2, Aditya-L1 has undergone a series of strategic manoeuvres to optimize its orbit and trajectory. Initially positioned at 282 km x 40225 km, the spacecraft is steadily advancing towards its ultimate destination.

This mission aims to study various aspects, including corona heating, solar eruptions, solar wind acceleration, and near-earth space weather.

The primary payload aboard the spacecraft is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph, developed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru.

This advanced technology enables the spacecraft to closely observe the sun, reaching as close as 1.05 times the solar radius.

This capability is pivotal in exploring the lower corona, where Coronal Mass Ejections, critical solar events, are initiated.

Source: Deccan Herald