The Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that the Chandrayaan-3 launch would proceed as scheduled on July 14th at 2:35 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Chairman Somanath, along with top ISRO officials, has been overseeing the launch preparations since Wednesday. He announced the launch while speaking to the media at the Changalamman Devi temple near the spaceport, where he offered prayers ahead of the mission. The countdown for the high-profile launch began at 1:00 pm on Thursday.
Chairman Somanath and spaceport officials presented holy offerings at the temple and offered prayers. He stated, “The Chandrayaan-3 launch is at 2:35 pm tomorrow. Our strong and powerful rocket LVM3 will launch this mission. Chandrayaan-3 will embark on its long journey tomorrow, orbiting the Earth before gradually traveling to the moon over the next 30 days. If all goes well, we anticipate a lunar soft-landing around August 23rd or shortly after.”
Reflecting on the previous Chandrayaan missions, Somanath highlighted that Chandrayaan-1 had operated successfully for over six months, discovering the presence of water on the moon, while Chandrayaan-2 confirmed the presence of water in its liquid state. He emphasized that each mission had achieved its own successes.
Somanath expressed the need for blessings from Changalamma Devi, the temple’s presiding deity, and visited the temple to pray for the success of Chandrayaan-3.
Earlier in the day, a team from ISRO headquarters also visited the renowned Venkateshwara Swami temple in Tirumala to offer prayers. Space agencies often follow specific traditions or lucky charms inspired by their respective cultures before important missions. For instance, NASA-JPL teams exchange jars of “lucky peanuts” and consume them during missions.
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