New Delhi, India

Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft completed its fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing), on Tuesday (July 25) said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In the upcoming days, the spacecraft is expected to shift to an Earth-to-Moon trajectory where it will eventually enter lunar orbit. 

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ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission update

ISRO took to Twitter and said, “The orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The spacecraft is expected to attain an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. The achieved orbit will be confirmed after the observations.” 

The Indian space agency also announced that the next firing of the TransLunar Injection (TLI) is planned for 1 August, 2023 between 12:00 am and 1:00 am (local time). 

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About the Chandrayaan-3 mission

On July 14, India launched its third lunar mission from Satish Dhawan Space Station in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota, where it began its 3,84,000 kilometres from Earth to the Moon. In about 40 days Chandrayaan-3 is expected to make a soft landing at 5:47 pm (local time) on August 23.

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Chandrayaan-3 is expected to reach the Moon’s South Pole. which is a less explored location that could potentially yield valuable scientific data, for a soft landing with a lander and a rover. If successful, India would be the fourth nation after the United States, Russia and China, to perform a soft landing on the Moon. 

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 is meant to land a few hundred kilometres away from the Moon’s south pole – a region that has also largely remained unexplored, owing to the near-nil sunlight illumination there. However, it is believed that many mysteries of the Moon could be unravelled by performing in-situ probing of this region. 

ALSO READ | India's Chandrayaan-3 to make lunar landing on August 23. Here’s what will happen next

In case things don’t go as planned and there is a delay in the landing, ISRO also has the option of allowing the spacecraft to circle the Moon and carry out the landing at the break of the following lunar dawn (which could be almost a month after the intended landing date of August 23).

(With inputs from agencies) 

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