Sriharikota. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Friday successfully launched Chandrayaan-3, its third mission to the Moon. The 642-tonne Bahubali rocket LVM3 with Chandrayaan-3 took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center here at 2.35 pm. At about 2.52 am, Chandrayaan-3 successfully separated from the rocket at an altitude of about 179 km from the earth.
Chandrayaan will take about 40 more days to reach the Moon. During this, Chandrayaan-3 will begin its journey to the Moon of about 3.84 lakh km. The lander is expected to make a soft landing on the lunar surface on August 23 or 24. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of a propulsion module (weight 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg) and a rover (26 kg).
The main objective of Chandrayaan-3 is to land the lander safely on the lunar surface. The rover will then head out to perform the experiment. The payload carried by the propulsion module has a life of between three and six months after exiting the lander. ISRO, on the other hand, said that the mission life of the lander and rover is one lunar day or 14 Earth days.
#WATCH |ISRO chief S Somanath and the team behind #Chandrayaan3 share their delight after the LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launched it into orbit.
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2023
"Chandrayaan-3, in its precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the Spacecraft is normal," says ISRO. pic.twitter.com/cRlegcsgHI
