Chandrayaan-3 mission update: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday successfully completed the fourth orbit raising process (apogee firing from Earth) of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. The development was followed by the successful third orbit-raising procedure (Earth-bound apogee firing) of Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday.
“Launching Chandrayaan-3 in 2023 – a step closer to the Moon – the fourth orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) has been successfully performed from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The next firing is planned for July 25, 2023 between 2 and 3 PM IST,” ISRO tweeted.
Notably, on July 14, the Indian Space Research Organization successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on an LVM3-M4 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. And 17 minutes after lift-off at 2.35 pm, the satellite was placed in a precise orbit.
Vehicle has performed very well: ISRO
Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center Director S Unnikrishnan Nair said the launch vehicle performed very well and the initial conditions required for the spacecraft were provided “very precisely”.
After the successful launch of the LVM3-M4 rocket carrying Chandrayaan-3, its project director P Veeramuthuvel on Friday said ISRO will closely monitor and control the spacecraft from ISTRAC.
“Several critical events are about to unfold, including Earth-bound maneuvers, lunar orbit insertion and separation of the lander, a set of deboost maneuvers and finally the powered descent phase for soft landing (on the lunar surface),” Veeramuthuvel said.
(with inputs from the agency)