Chandrayaan 3

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.

Overview of Chandrayaan 3

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 M4 which will place the integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) of size ~170 x 36500 km.

Mission objectives

The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:

• To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface
• To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and
• To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

To achieve the mission objectives, several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as,

• Altimeters: Laser & RF based Altimeters
• Velocimeters: Laser Doppler Velocimeter & Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera
• Inertial Measurement: Laser Gyro based Inertial referencing and Accelerometer package
• Propulsion System: 800N Throttleable Liquid Engines, 58N attitude thrusters & Throttleable Engine Control Electronics
• Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC): Powered Descent Trajectory design and associate software elements
• Hazard Detection and Avoidance: Lander Hazard Detection & Avoidance Camera and Processing Algorithm
• Landing Leg Mechanism.

Journey of Chandrayaan - 3 

• August 31, 2023 - ILSA listens to the movements around the landing site. RAMBHA-LP on-board Chandrayaan-3 measures near-surface plasma content. To know more, click here
• August 30, 2023- APXS on-board Ch-3 rover detects the presence of minor elements. To know more, click here
• August 28, 2023 - LIBS confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface through unambiguous in-situ measurements. The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-3 Rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters. To know more, click here
• August 27, 2023 - The first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface. It has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors. To know more, click here.
• August 24, 2023 - Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India. Made for the MOON! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon !
• August 23, 2023 - LIVE telecast of Chandrayaan-3 Soft-landing - Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon. 

• August 20, 2023 - The Lander Module is in 25 km x 134 km orbit. Powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST
• August 19, 2023 - The Lander Module is in 113 km x 157 km orbit around the moon. Second de-boosting is planned for August 20, 2023
• August 17, 2023 - Lander Module is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module. Deboosting planned for August 18, 2023
• August 16, 2023 - The spacecraft is in an orbit of 153 km x 163 km after the firing on August 16, 2023
• August 14, 2023 - The mission is in the orbit circularisation phase. The spacecraft is in 151 km x 179 km orbit
• August 09, 2023 - Chandrayaan-3's orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a maneuver performed on August 9, 2023
• August 06, 2023 - LBN#2 is successfully completed. The spacecarft is in 170 km x 4313 km orbit around the moon
• Chandrayaan-3 Video: The Moon, as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during Lunar Orbit Insertion

• August 05, 2023 - Chandrayaan-3 is successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 164 km x 18074 km, as intended.
• August 01, 2023 - The spacecraft is inserted into the translunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328 km. Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for Aug 5, 2023.
• July 25, 2023 - Orbit-raising maneuver performed on July 25, 2023. Next firing (TransLunar Injection), is planned for August 1, 2023.
• July 22, 2023 - The fourth orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) is completed. The spacecraft is now in a 71351 km x 233 km orbit.
• July 17, 2023 - The second orbit-raising maneuver performed. The spacecraft is now in 41603 km x 226 km orbit.
• July 15, 2023 - The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.
• July 14, 2023 - LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit. Chandrayaan-3, in its precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the Spacecraft is normal.
• July 11, 2023 - The 'Launch Rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process lasting 24 hours has been concluded.
• July 07, 2023 - Vehicle electrical tests completed.
• July 06, 2023 - The launch is scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 14:35 Hrs. IST from the Second Launch Pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.

Source : ISRO