India Space Agency Announces Launch Date for Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission

The Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission launch is drawing near.

According to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the launch will be on July 14 at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, with the new heavy-lift launch vehicle LVM-3 at 2:35 p.m. It is equipped with an integrated module on board.

ISRO announced the launch date on Twitter, and the mission was predicted to land on August 23 successfully, as per a report from Hindustan Times.

By successfully connecting the capsule assembly of Chandrayaan-3 with the launch vehicle LVM3 at SDSC earlier this week, ISRO set a significant milestone in developing the future mission. The planning for the mission has advanced significantly with this development.

Chandrayaan-3 will demonstrate comprehensive lunar landing and exploration capability. The mission, equipped with scientific gear, will study the lunar environment's elemental composition at the landing site, surface plasma environment, seismicity, and regolith thermophysics.

In January 2020, the Chandrayaan-3 mission was announced. ISRO learned from its failed Moon lander mission in September 2019, right before it was meant to touchdown on the moon.

Ready To Fly To The Moon

ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said last month that the third lunar mission will launch between July 13 and 19. He said the final testing and integration are almost finished, and Chandrayaan-3 is almost ready. However, they have postponed the launch a bit since a few more tests are still due.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft conducted significant testing in March of this year, proving its capacity to endure the demanding vibrations and acoustic conditions experienced during launch. This accomplishment showed how rigid and equipped the spacecraft was for the challenging lunar journey, according to WION.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander will be equipped with cutting-edge technology such as a landing leg mechanism, velocimeters, throttleable liquid engines, laser and RF-based altimeters, and danger identification and avoidance systems.

The rover will use an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and a laser-induced breakdown spectroscope for qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of lunar rocks and soil.

India Boosts Space Exploration Program

In recent years, India's space exploration endeavors have advanced significantly. The nation has adopted its space strategy to encourage cooperation across executive branches of government, including ISRO and entrepreneurs developing space technology.

India's other highly anticipated human space flight project, Gaganyaan, is also actively worked on by ISRO. The mission, with a budget of $1.8 billion, will send three astronauts into low-Earth orbit for three days. The Gaganyaan mission will start in 2024, per TechCrunch.

India joined the NASA Artemis Accords last month to promote cooperation with other participating nations in space research projects.