According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is ready to launch India’s third lunar mission. Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on July 14 at 2.35 pm IST. The Chandrayaan-3 mission will be launched by ISRO from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is a large-scale operation. The main goal of this mission is to place a lander and rover in the highlands near the south pole of the Moon to demonstrate its end-to-end landing and roaming capabilities. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), also called Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III.
Chandrayaan-3’s lander Vikram and rover Pragyan are expected to touch the moon on August 23 or 24. Chandrayaan-3 is expected to enter lunar orbit about a month after its launch. Notably, Chandrayaan-2’s landing site for recent missions was close to the south pole of the lunar surface at 70 degrees latitude. If all goes according to plan, Chandrayaan-3 will be the first mission to soft-land near the Moon’s south pole.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2, which was launched in September 2019 but crashed on the lunar surface when a soft-landing attempt failed due to problems with the onboard computer and propulsion system. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), also called Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, on Friday, July 14 at 2:35 pm IST. It will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. The rover is similar to Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram rover, though upgraded to ensure a safe landing. The entire mission budget of Chandrayaan-3 launch is Rs.615 crores
