Chandrayaan-3 Mission Set For Launch in August 2023: ISRO Chairman

Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2022, 17:22 [IST]

Chandrayaan-3 is all set to launch now. It is not a replica of Chandrayaan-2. The engineering of Chandrayaan-3 is significantly different from Chandrayaan-2. The Chandrayaan-3 mission is expected to be launched in August 2023.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission Set For Launch in Aug 2023

Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, explained that while mission parameters would remain the same but there were several changes being made to the design to make it more robust and avoid the problems from last time.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2. Chandrayaan-2 aimed to land a rover (Pragyan) on the lunar South Pole in 2019. However, it ended up having a crash landing. So, it never got a chance to deploy.

Chandrayaan-3: Highlights

Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of the ISRO, clarified that Chandrayaan-3 is specifically different from Chandrayaan-2. Below are the highlights of Chandrayaan-3:

Improved Sensors: In Chandrayaan-3 will be having improved sensors. The legs that would hold the body of the craft on landing were made more rugged, there are improved sensors and algorithms to identify sites where the lander could successfully descend safely and better instrumentation that would provide more resilient back-up systems, said Dr. Somnath.
Manned Mission: Preparations for India's maiden manned mission into space or Gaganyaan are progressing with an expected launch date of December 2024. Abort missions refer to test flights to test whether the rocket can carry a module into space and return safely.

On 23 October 2022, ISRO has launched 36 satellites aboard its heaviest rocket LVM3 which was earlier known as the GSLV-MK3. These satellites were launched from the spaceport in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. These satellites belong to British start-up OneWeb.
There is a second set of satellites of OneWeb that will be launched in February 2023.

Chandrayaan- 2

The approved budget of Chandrayaan-2 Project is Rs 603 Crore. This cost does not include launch cost.
Launch Vehicle of Chandrayaan-2: Chandrayaan-II was launched on-board the GSLV MK III M1.
The cost of GSLV MK III M1 vehicle is Rs. 367 Crore.

Aims of Chandrayaan-II Mission

1. Scientific studies through payloads on-board the orbiter
2. Technology demonstration of soft landing and roving on the lunar surface
Name of Lander: Pragyan
Name of Rover: Vikram
The main aim of Chandrayaan-II was to trace the location and abundance of lunar water on the moon's surface.

Chandrayaan-II Mission: Highlights

Chandrayaan- II fostered the findings of Chandrayaan-I.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission targeted the "South Polar region" of the Moon which was completely unexplored.
The mission focused on the extensive mapping of the lunar surface for studying variations in its composition and tracing the Moon's origin and evolution.
Chandrayaan-II was considered as a challenging mission as the South Polar Region of the Moon was totally unexplored by any space agency before.

Chandrayaan-I

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first mission to the Moon was launched on 22 October 2008. This mission was carried out using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11). This satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the Moon. The communication with the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was lost on 29 August 2009.

Objectives of Chandrayaan-1 Mission

The main objective of the Chandrayaan-1 mission was to prepare a 3-D atlas of both near and far side of the Moon.
The Chandrayaan-1 mission was carried out to conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution.

Discovery from Chandrayaan- 1

The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission is the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface. The data also revealed their enhanced abundance towards the polar region.
The mission successfully detected the presence of titanium and calcium.