ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3: When did it start and when will it end? Premium
The Hindu
A timeline of ISRO’s upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission, from the launch onboard LVM 3 rocket on July 14 and the landing scheduled for August 23-24.
The much-anticipated launch of Chandrayaan 3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scheduled for 2.35 pm IST on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The lunar mission is a follow-up to the Chandrayaan 2, launched in September 2019 and which failed to complete the soft landing due to a problems with the onboard computer and the propulsion system, and crashed on the moon’s surface.
The Chandrayaan 3 mission plans to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It will forego the orbiter from the previous mission,
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The mission’s main objectives are:
First announced in January 2020, ISRO began the development phase of Chandrayaan 3, with scientists and engineers working on the design and assembly of the spacecraft. The lander for the current mission has more robust impact legs than Chandrayaan 2.
Initially slated to be launched in early 2021, the development and assembling of the spacecraft was delayed due by the COVID-19 pandemic. The second wave of the pandemic caused further delays even though the manufacturing and testing of the propulsion systems were almost done by May 2021.