Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Thursday offered prayers at Sri Chengalamma Parameswarini temple at Sullurpeta near here in the run-up to the launch of Chandrayaan-3 Mission.
Wearing a black T-shirt, Somnath worshipped at the temple located in Tirupati district, 22 km west of Sriharikota, where the spaceport is located. “I need the blessings of Chengalamma Devi…I came here to pray and seek the blessings for the success of this mission,” Somnath told reporters. Somnath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the Space Commission said Chandrayaan-3 will be launched at 2:35 pm on Friday and called the LVM3 rocket big and strong which is on its fourth continuous mission. “Chandrayaan-3 will start its journey tomorrow. We are hoping that everything goes right and it lands on the moon on August 23,” he added. According to Somnath, the next launch by ISRO will be a commercial satellite by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) likely at the end of July. He also said the Aditya-L1 mission launch, which is the first space-based Indian mission to study the sun, is likely in August. Further, the ISRO Chairman said the satellite is currently undergoing tests and in case the results are good the launch will happen as scheduled (August 10) or close to that date.
