New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the Chandrayaan-3 mission will launch on July 13. ISRO chief S Somnath confirmed that the launch is set for July 13 and it can go upto July 19.
“We will be able to do a soft landing on the Moon. July 13 is the first possible launch day and it could go up to 19th,” Somnath announced.
Earlier, Somnath had said the period between July 12 and 19 is optimal for launch when the orbital dynamics will ensure minimal fuel and higher efficiency in the journey to the Moon.
Chandrayaan-3 is in the final stages of being integrated with India’s heaviest launch vehicle, the GSLV Mk-III which will put it on a trajectory to the Moon. The third edition of the Chandrayaan series, the mission objective is to soft-land on the surface of the Moon.
So far, only three countries, India, Russia, and China have been able to land a spacecraft on the Moon’s surface. India aims to become the fourth country to achieve the milestone.
ISRO will launch a lander-rover combination with Chandrayaan-3 to the Moon and will use the Orbiter launched with Chandrayaan-2 a few years back to coordinate with the new mission. The Orbiter is already hovering around the Moon, doing science and scouting the surface.
