New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Chandrayaan-3 mission was placed into orbit successfully on Friday, July 14 after blasting off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 2:35 pm in the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3).The propulsion module, which is designed to behave like a communications relay satellite, separated from the rocket at 2:51 pm. It will take the lander and the rover to the moon. The mission’s primary goal is to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover.Apart from the rover, Chandrayaan-3 also has scientific payload like the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE), which will study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.The mission’s path will consist of three stages: Earth orbit manoeuvres, trans-lunar injection, and lunar orbit manoeuvres. In the first stage, it will orbit the earth five times, increasing the distance it swings away each time. After the fifth manoeuvre, it will begin its journey towards the moon. This phase is the Trans Lunar Injection phase. It will then orbit the moon four times, coming closer each time.After reaching a circular orbit of 100 km x 100 km, the lander will separate from the propulsion module and move to a closer orbit of 30 km. The lander will then commence the soft-landing procedure.ISRO chief S. Somanath, science minister Jitendra Singh and former ISRO chief K. Sivan were among those who watched the takeoff at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.The mission comes four years after the earlier Chandrayaan-2 attempt to land the Vikram rover ended in failure. The rover crashed as it attempted a soft landing on the moon.Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have completed successful lunar landings. Earlier this year, a Japanese start-up attempted to get a lander to the moon, but the object crashed.The Chandrayaan-3 was built with a budget of around Rs 600 crore.The launch is the country’s first major mission since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced policies to promote investment in private space launches.India plans for its companies to increase their share of the launch market fivefold, up from 2% in 2020.India sent its first probe to orbit the moon in 2008. In 2014, it became the first Asian country to put a satellite into orbit around Mars. Three years later, its space agency launched 104 satellites in a single mission.The ISRO’s three-day manned mission into the Earth’s orbit, called the Gaganyaan mission, is scheduled for next year.
