At around 2:35 pm on July 14, Friday, India will once again venture out for the Moon with the launch of its third Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3. India's Chandrayaan-3 will lift off at 2.35 pm today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh
The mission is a follow-up of the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 launch, with space scientists aiming for a soft landing on the surface of the Moon. A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat, the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union
The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by the space scientists for its ability to carry heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday. The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August, tentatively around August 23 and 24
Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions
The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover from injection orbit to till 100 km lunar orbit. It also carries a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planetary Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of earth from the lunar orbit
Friday's launch by ISRO marks the country's first big mission after the Centre's announcement of policies aimed at promoting investment in private space launches and satellite-based businesses
Chandrayaan-2 managed to land on the Moon but failed to do a soft landing due to some software and mechanical issues. This time, they have worked on every aspect of it for four years and are hopeful to do a soft landing, a former scientist told PTI
Chandrayaan-3 will launch with just a lander and a rover and will reportedly use the Orbiter already hovering above the Moon launched with Chandrayaan-2 for its communications and terrain mapping requirements
The launch of the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark – III) carrying the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander, rover and propulsion module will be streamed on ISRO’s website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the latest updates on India Today and Business Today website