India’s largest rocket, LVM3, has been assembled and is ready at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, according to ISRO. The rocket’s nose cone, which houses the Chandrayaan-3 Lunar spacecraft, has been installed, indicating progress towards a potential launch around July 13 or July 14, pending final confirmation from ISRO.
On July 7, the 640-ton launch vehicle is scheduled to be moved to the Second launch pad at the Indian spaceport. In the days leading up to the launch, a countdown timer will be initiated, and thorough health checks will be conducted on the vehicle and its systems. During the final stages of the countdown, the rocket’s second and third stages will be filled with earth-storable liquid fuels and super-cooled cryogenic fuels, respectively.
Dr. S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, previously mentioned that the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover would retain the names used in Chandrayaan-2. The Lunar lander will be named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai, while the rover will be called ‘Pragyan,’ meaning wisdom in Sanskrit. The Lunar landing is expected to take place around the end of August, during a Lunar day to allow for experiments within the mission’s designated duration.
Chandrayaan-3 will be India’s third Lunar mission and second attempt at a Lunar landing. The previous mission, Chandrayaan-2, encountered a loss of contact with the ‘Vikram’ Lunar lander during a hard landing just two kilometers above the Lunar surface, rendering the mission incomplete. However, the orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 is still operational, providing scientific data.
Unlike Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 will not carry an orbiter with multiple science payloads. Instead, it will function as a propulsion module to help the integrated spacecraft reach Lunar orbit. The overall weight of the integrated spacecraft (orbiter, lander, and rover) is approximately 3.9 tons, which is around 300 kilograms more than Chandrayaan-2.
The increased mass on the Lunar lander includes additional fuel, ruggedization measures, failure tolerance enhancements, strengthened landing legs, and expanded scientific payloads. The launch window for Chandrayaan-3 is expected to be between July 12 and July 19, with precise calculations carried out to determine the optimal launch time based on various factors such as weather, trajectory, and mission objectives.
ISRO aims to launch the mission in the early days of the window to allow for potential technical issues that may require additional time for resolution. Dr. Somanath expressed confidence in the mission’s success but acknowledged the challenges of space exploration, emphasizing the importance of rigorous testing, decision-making, hard work, and timing.
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