India's third Lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 almost ready, launch in June-July: ISRO Chairman

India's third Lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is almost ready, the satellite has been fully integrated and its ruggedisation tests have been completed, Dr.S.Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) said.

He added that the launch would have to be carried out during a specific launch window (timeline) and the best suited opportunity would be between June and July 2023.The mission would be carried out by India's heaviest rocket, theLaunch Vehicle Mark-3(LVM3).

Somanath, who also serves as Secretary, Department of Space, mentioned that the mission goals of Chandryaan-3 are the same as that of its predecessor mission Chandrayaan-2 which was launched in 2019.

Speaking at the Indian Science Congress, he said that the primary objective is to carry out a safe Lunar landing and ensure that the on-board rover can exit the lander and travel on the Lunar surface.

While the lander would probe the Lunar soil and perform atmospheric experiments, the rover would move around the Lunar surface to perform scientific tasks.

In 2019, the Chandryaan-2 mission could notmake a controlled Lunar landing (it had crash landed). Following this, ISRO took multiple measures to ensure that the third Lunar mission could accomplish what its predecessor couldn't do. These measures include software changes, changes in the propulsion system, new sensors, ruggedisation to handle unexpected situations and failures. All these efforts willenhance the reliability of this mission, Somanath said.

Notably, the Chandrayaan-3 mission will only be carrying a Lunar lander and rover, unlike its predecessor which carried an orbiter, lander and rover.

According to ISRO, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is functional and continues to perform its imaging and remote sensing role from an altitude of 100kms above Lunar surface.

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