The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Friday launched its Chandrayaan-3 mission to Moon on a spacecraft that lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre from Sriharikota on board Launch Vehicle Mark-III.
The mission is third part of the Chandrayaan series and India’s second attempt to land on moon. The total cost spent on the mission was ₹ 615 crore. This will make India join the elite club of lunar fairing countries.
The Launch Vehicle Mark-III successfully injected the Chandrayaan-3 mission in a precise orbit and then all the three stages were nominally performed. The spacecraft separated from the LVM-3 after 900 seconds of launch.
In the coming days, ISRO will perform orbit-raising exercises to put the spacecraft on the road to Moon. The spacecraft is expected to enter the lunar orbit on August 5 and finally on August 23 a soft-landing on the surface of Moon is expected.
Till date, only three countries have successfully landed their spacecrafts on moon and India is aiming to become the fourth one to do so. The three countries include Russia, China and United States.
Meanwhile, addressing the moment Minister of Space Dr. Jitendra Singh said, “It is indeed a moment of glory for India and a moment of destiny for all of us who are part of history in the making. Thank you team Isro for making India proud”, adding, “This day is a day of vindication. Vindication for the dream Dr. Vikram Sarabhai saw six decades ago. When we see those pictures of launch vehicles being carried on a cycle without any embarrassment or remorse, Vikram and his team had faith in India’s potential and we are vindicating India’s indigenous abilities,” he said.
The location for the final landing of Chandrayaan-3 is yet to be announced but it is expected to be somehwhere around the landing location of Chandrayaan-2, which failed in 2019.
This Chandrayaan-3 mission will make use of the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 that is already present in the lunar orbit, it will be help in communicating with the ground stations on Earth.
