Chandrayaan-3 mission: Spacecraft lifts off from Sriharikota, successfully separated from LVM, injected to internal orbit

 The Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 2.35 PM IST on Friday, July 14.

The mission follows Chandrayaan-2 where scientists aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.

Sixteen minutes after lift-off, propulsion module successfully separated from the rocket and would orbit the earth for about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit.

To witness the event live, you can watch the streaming of the launch on ISRO’s official website and YouTube channel. 

The Chandrayaan-3 which will be India’s third lunar mission consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

The dream run of India’s ambitious second lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 ended in a tragedy early on September 7 as the Indian Space Research Organisation lost contact with the spacecraft’s lander Vikram.