Chandrayaan-3 Enters Lunar Orbit, Preparations Underway For Lander 'Vikram' Separation

The Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO said today that Chandrayaan-3, third and most recent lunar exploration mission under the Chandrayaan programme of the organisation, has successfully entered lunar orbit. The spacecraft fired its propulsion system for a short duration today, as planned, to enter an orbit of 153 km x 163 km. This marks the completion of the lunar bound maneuvers, the space agency said in a statement.

With Chandrayaan-3 now in lunar orbit, the Propulsion Module and the Lander (Vikram) Module will begin preparations for their separate journeys. The separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module is planned for August 17, 2023.

“Today’s successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed. It’s time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys. Separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module is planned for August 17, 2023.,” the Indian space agency tweeted.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

Today’s successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended.

With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed.

It’s time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module… pic.twitter.com/0Iwi8GrgVR

— ISRO (@isro) August 16, 2023

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, which was India”s first mission to soft-land on the Moon. Chandrayaan-3 is designed to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.