India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is scheduled to be launched on July 14, 2023, at 2:35 p.m. IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The mission will attempt to soft-land a lander and rover on the lunar surface near the South Pole.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up to the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions, which successfully orbited the moon and made significant scientific discoveries. The main objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to:
- Soft-land a lander and rover on the lunar surface.
- Conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface.
- Study the lunar south pole, which is thought to be rich in water ice.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module. The lander will be responsible for soft-landing the spacecraft on the lunar surface. The rover will be deployed from the lander and will explore the lunar surface for up to 14 days. The propulsion module will be used to transport the spacecraft from Earth to the moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a major milestone in India’s space program. The successful launch and landing of the spacecraft would be a major achievement for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and would help to advance India’s scientific and technological capabilities.
Here are some additional details about Chandrayaan-3 that you may want to know:
- The lander is named Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program.
- The rover is named Pragyan, which means “wisdom” in Sanskrit.
- The propulsion module is named Chandrayaan-3 Orbiter.
- The spacecraft is about 3,900 kilograms in weight.
- The mission will cost around ₹800 crore (US$100 million).