Chandrayaan-3 mission: Lift-off may help India soft-land in elite orbit

On Friday, all roads led to Sriharikota, a spindle-shaped island off the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) launchpad. Thousands flocked to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre — the country’s only spaceport — to witness the momentous launch of the Chandrayaan III.

At the venue, hundreds of scientists stationed at the mission control centre, roughly 13,000 spectators in the viewer’s gallery braving the scorching heat, and 250-odd mediapersons anxiously awaited the lift-off.

Isro’s Chandrayaan III mission successfully lifted off at 1435 hours on Friday. The spacecraft’s 384,400-kilometre journey to the Moon will conclude at 1747 hours on August 23.

The spacecraft, launched on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (GSLV Mk III or LVM3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, successfully separated from the core stage at 1441 hours, igniting the CE-25 cryogenic stage.

At 1450 hours, the announcement of a successful launch spurred celebrations throughout Sriharikota, with crowds waving the Tricolour. Isro Chairman S Somnath officially announced the launch: “Congratulations, India. Chandrayaan III has started its journey towards the Moon.”

More than 1.8 million people watched the proceedings live on YouTube.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted minutes after the announcement: “Success! Chandrayaan III has soared into the sky, carrying our dreams and aspirations to new heights. Congratulations to Isro and the dedicated team behind this remarkable achievement. We eagerly wait for the discoveries and insights that await us on the lunar surface.”

Chandrayaan III is a follow-up to Chandrayaan II, which faced challenges during its soft landing in 2019.

In Chandrayaan I, India orbited the Moon and crash-landed on its surface in 2008 by design. If successful, India will join the elite league of countries — including the US, the erstwhile Soviet Union, and China — to have soft-landed on the Moon.

This time around, the private sector’s role has been noteworthy. Roughly 85 per cent of the funds spent on the rocket came from the private sector.

With the current mission, India is poised to become the first country to explore the South Pole region of the Moon. One of the major achievements of India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan I, was confirming the presence of water molecules on the Moon’s surface.

Although Chandrayaan II entered the Moon’s orbit, it crash-landed.

In 2014, India also became the first Asian country to reach Mars through the Mangalyaan mission. In the weeks to come, the spacecraft will perform a series of engine firings to reach its orbit before progressing towards the Moon.

The success of the LVM3 rocket on Friday is a significant step towards India’s Gaganyaan mission, which aims at demonstrating human spaceflight wherewithal. The first unmanned mission of Gaganyaan is expected to occur next year; the human mission by 2025.

Chandrayaan III is projected to be captured by the Moon’s gravity by August 1. The mission’s goal is to place a lander and rover on the Moon’s surface and operate them for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days. The rover, weighing 26 kilograms, is housed inside the lander.

The lander, equipped with three payloads, aims at measuring the near-surface plasma density, carrying out measurements of the thermal properties of the lunar surface near the polar region, and assessing the seismicity around the landing site. The rover also carries three payloads, including one to determine the composition of lunar soil.