ISRO Chief Reveals Launch Dates For Chandrayaan-3

According to S Somanath, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 will be launched between 12 and 19 July if the tests go as planned.

Chandrayaan-3 is the third in the series of India's Moon missions.

Somanath revealed this launch period during the unveiling of a one-day workshop and space exhibition organised by ISRO at Kothavara St Xavier's College, Vaikam, in the Kottayam district.

"The final preparations are going on. It will be completed by the end of this month. The rocket, LVM-3, is going to be used for this launch and its assembly is going on. All parts for its assembly have reached Sriharikota. It will be launched between July 12 and 19," Somanath said.

Ahead of the launch, necessary adjustments have been made in Chandrayaan-3 to ensure a smooth mission, the ISRO chief said.

Extensive modifications were made to the essential components of the spacecraft, such as the hardware, structure, computers, software, and sensors, to prevent any potential glitches during the mission.

"More fuel added and the landing legs have been strengthened. For producing more energy, big solar panels have been fixed. And an additional sensor is also added.

"To measure its speed, a 'Laser Doppler VelociMeter' instrument, which was developed the last year, has been added.

"We have also changed its algorithm and new software has been added to help Chandrayaan to land in another area if there is any failure at the scheduled spot," Somanath said.

Chandrayaan-3, the subsequent mission after the Chandrayaan-2, aims to demonstrate the end-to-end capability of a safe landing and roving on the Moon's surface. The spacecraft is designed to undertake various scientific experiments and activities to support this goal.

ISRO has identified three main objectives for Chandrayaan-3.

The first objective is to execute a soft and secure landing on the Moon's surface safely.

The second is to showcase the rover's ability to navigate the Moon's terrain.

The last objective is to perform in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface, including examining the minerals present in the Moon's geology.

The lander-rover configuration will be transported to a 100-km lunar orbit by the propulsion module. This module is equipped with a payload called Spectropolarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE), which will study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

The GSLV-Mk3, or LVM-3, is the chosen launcher for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Its responsibility is to place the integrated module in an elliptic parking orbit (EPO) of 170 x 36,500 km.