Rocket integration for July launch of Chandrayaan-3 begins
India's space agency, ISRO, is integrating the Launch Vehicle Mark-III for the mid-July launch of Chandrayaan-3. The spacecraft assembly aboard the rocket will begin early next month. Chandrayaan-3 is India's third lunar mission and will demonstrate new technologies for interplanetary missions. The lander and rover will carry scientific payloads to conduct experiments on the lunar surface.
The Indian Space Research Organisation has started integrating Launch Vehicle Mark-III for the mid-July launch of Chandrayaan-3, a senior official said on Monday, adding that the assembly of the spacecraft aboard the rocket will begin early next month.
Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, is on track for its mid-July launch, the official said.
“We are confident that we will stick to the mid-July launch,” the official said seeking anonymity.
Once the integration of the rocket, previously known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), is completed by the end of this month, the next step would be to mount the spacecraft over the launch vehicle, likely in the first week of July, the official said.
Earlier this month, Isro chairperson S Somnath said that the space agency has a “small launch window” from July 12 for the mission.
On May 22, HT reported that the much awaited mission is likely to happen on July 12, with the lunar touchdown expected on August 23.
Chandrayaan-3, which consists of an indigenous lander module, a propulsion module and a rover, is aimed at developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary missions.
The lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover, which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The lander and the rover will have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3 will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100km lunar orbit.
India’s Chandrayaan programme is an ongoing series of outer space mission by Isro. The first moon rocket, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008, and was successfully inserted into lunar orbit.
Chandrayaan-2 was successfully launched and inserted into lunar orbit in 2019, but its lander “crash-landed” on the moon’s surface when it deviated from its trajectory while attempting to land on September 6, 2019, due to a software glitch.