Launch Details
- Mission Name - LVM3-M4 / Chandrayaan-3
- Lift Off - 02:35 PM IST, 14th July 2023
- Pad - Second Launch Pad, SDSC
- Rocket - Launch Vehicle Mark3 (LVM3)
- Payload - Chandrayaan-3
- Payload Mass - 3900 Kg
- Orbit - Elliptical parking orbit (36500*170km)
About the Launch
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It will be launched by LVM3 from SDSC, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions. The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of PM is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the LM from PM. Apart from this, the Propulsion Module also has one scientific payload as a value addition which will be operated post separation of Lander Module. The launcher identified for Chandrayaan-3 is LVM3 which will place the integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) of size ~170 x 36500 km.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:
1. To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface
2. To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and
3. To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
About the Rocket
- Specifications
- Payload to Orbit
- Cost per launch
Height - 43.5 m
Core Diameter - 4 m
Stages - 1st Stage (S200)
2nd Stage (L110)
3rd Stage (C25)
Liftoff Mass - 640 tonne
LEO - 10000 kg
GTO - 4000 kg
$60 million (estimated)
About the Payload
Chandrayaan-3 is a planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It will consist of a lander and a rover similar to Chandrayaan-2, but would not have an orbiter. Its propulsion module will behave like a communications relay satellite. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft is in a 100km lunar orbit. The propulsion module, in addition to the lander, carries a payload called Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit. The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched on 12 July 2023. Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute software glitch in the soft landing guidance software led to the failure of the lander's soft landing attempt after a successful orbital insertion, another lunar mission was proposed.
