Chandrayaan-3 mission: Spacecraft lifts off successfully from Sriharikota

The much-awaited moment is over as the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota as per the scheduled launch time of 14:35 pm Friday.

The spacecraft’s anticipated time of travel to the moon is one month, and the expected landing date is August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth. Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, will make India the fourth nation after the United States, China, and Russia to land a spacecraft on the moon’s surface and demonstrate the nation’s prowess for a safe and soft landing. The Chandrayaan-2 mission encountered challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was ultimately determined to have failed its primary mission goals. Chandrayaan-3 is the ISRO’s follow-up effort.

Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after the orbit-raising maneuvers. Covering a distance of over 300,000 km, it will reach the Moon in the coming weeks. Scientific instruments onboard will study the Moon’s surface and enhance our knowledge.

A lander, rover, and propulsion module are included in Chandrayaan-3. It weighs around 3,900 kilograms.

Moon serves as a repository of the Earth’s past and a successful lunar mission by India will help enhance life on Earth while also enabling it to explore the rest of the solar system and beyond.

Prior to the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that July 14, 2023, will forever be etched in gold letters in the history of the country’s space industry.

“This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation,” PM Modi had tweeted earlier.“Thanks to our scientists, India has a very rich history in the space sector. Chandrayaan-1 is considered to be a path breaker among global lunar missions as it confirmed the presence of water molecules on the moon. It featured in over 200 scientific publications around the world,” PM Modi wrote on Twitter.

According to K Sivan, former ISRO director, the achievement of mission Chandrayan-3 will inspire further projects like Gaganyan, India’s first human space mission.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed that the spacecraft GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) has successfully launched  Chandrayaan-3 into orbit.
The successful separation of the satellite from the launch vehicle has been announced by ISRO scientists. The Satellite has now been injected into the desired Orbit to begin its journey to the Moon “Chandrayaan-3, in its precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon. The health of the Spacecraft is normal,” ISRO tweeted minutes after the launch.