Chandrayaan-3 Mission Scheduled for Launch on July 13

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s anticipated lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled for launch on July 13 at 2:30 pm local time. The launch is scheduled to take place at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota using a GSLV Mk-3 heavy-lift launch vehicle.

The mission will aim to take forward the Chandrayaan-2 mission of 2019, which succesfully orbited the moon but its lander suffered a hard landing that prevented the rover from being deployed on the Moon.

According to NDTV, ISRO officials are optimistic about Chandrayaan-3's potential for success. Its main objective will be demonstrating the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover. The mission design "has been optimised" based on lessons learned from the previous mission, the TV channel's website reported.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission has a lander and a rover but will not carry an orbiter, unlike the previous mission. The propulsion module is designed to behave like a communications relay satellite and will "carry the lander and rover until the spacecraft is in a 100 km lunar orbit", according to NDTV.

However, it will have equipment – dubbed Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) – which will study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

ISRO's three primary objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission are to achieve a safe and soft landing on the Moon; demonstrate the rover's loitering capabilities on the lunar surface; and conduct in-situ scientific observations. The mission aims to explore the chemical and natural elements, soil, and water available on the lunar surface to improve understanding of the Moon's composition.

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