Aditya-L1 is placed in a halo orbit around which type of gravitationally balanced point in space?

Correct — B. Aditya-L1, launched on 2 September 2023 on PSLV-C57, was inserted on 6 January 2024 into a halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L1 point, about 1.5 million km from Earth.

L1 is a Lagrange point: a spot where the combined gravity of two large bodies, here the Sun and Earth, lets a small spacecraft keep its position relative to both → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Polar — A polar orbit is a path around Earth that passes over or near both poles. It is a kind of Earth orbit, not a balance point between two bodies.
• (c)
  Sun-synchronous — A sun-synchronous orbit is a near-polar Earth orbit that passes over each place at the same local solar time. Despite the name, it circles Earth.
• (d)
  Geostationary — A geostationary orbit lies about 35,786 km above the equator and keeps pace with Earth's rotation. Aditya-L1 is about 1.5 million km away, far beyond it.

In a two-body system such as the Sun and Earth there are five Lagrange points, L1 to L5, where a small object can hold its position relative to the two larger bodies.

L1 lies on the line between the Sun and Earth, about 1.5 million km from Earth. A craft there can watch the Sun continuously, without eclipses, which suits a solar mission.

A halo orbit is a loop around the Lagrange point. The craft circles the point rather than sitting on it.

Key facts

• Aditya-L1 was launched on 2 September 2023 on PSLV-C57.
• It was inserted into a halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L1 point on 6 January 2024.
• L1 is about 1.5 million km from Earth, roughly 1 per cent of the Earth–Sun distance.
• The James Webb Space Telescope orbits the Sun–Earth L2 point, on the far side of Earth from the Sun.

Common traps

• Choosing sun-synchronous because the mission studies the Sun, when that orbit circles Earth.
• Thinking a halo orbit means the craft sits still at L1, rather than looping around it.

No directly related past PYQ was found.