The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday announced that its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on July 14 from the space port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
ISRO’s new heavylift launch vehicle LVM-3 will carry out the Moon mission. “Announcing the launch of Chandrayaan-3: LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The launch is now scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm IST from SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre), Sriharikota,” ISRO tweeted.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma environment and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site. While the scope of these scientific instruments on the lander and the rover would fit in the theme of “Science of the Moon”, another experimental instrument will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth from the lunar orbit, which would fit in the theme of “Science from the Moon”, according to ISRO officials. In March this year, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed the essential tests that validated its capability to withstand the harsh vibration and acoustic environment that the spacecraft would encounter during its launch. These tests were particularly challenging, considering the fact that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which will be launched by LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III) (earlier referred to as GSLV Mk III), is a composite of three modules — propulsion, lander and rover.
