Chandrayaan-3: Isro prepares for final leg of tests ahead of launch

The assembly of the Chandrayaan-3 rocket has been completed, with final tests remaining before the launch, expected between July 12 and July 19.

The rocket assembly for Chandrayaan-3 has been completed with only the final round of tests left for the Indian Space Research Organisation to pace through, officials said on Sunday.

The Chandrayaan programme is an ongoing series of outer space missions by ISRO(ISRO)

The spacecraft is fully integrated and the payload faring has also been completed, senior officials from the department of space said seeking anonymity.

The launch vehicle is expected to be moved from the vehicle assembly building to the second launchpad by next week, the officials said.

“The launch date that is almost certain is July 13, but a final announcement is awaited,” one of the officials said.

The window for launch continues to be between July 12 and July 19, Isro chairman S Somnath said on Sunday.

“We are aiming for the earlier part of this launch window, instead of pushing it to the latter part,” he said.

Chandrayaan-3, which consists of an indigenous lander module, a propulsion module and a rover, is aimed at developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary 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 will have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100km lunar orbit.

Isro began the process of assembly for the payloads of Chandrayaan-3 in May in a bid ensure that the space agency is able to stick to the launch date of July, senior officials had said.

The assembly was carried out at Isro’s UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bangalore, following which it was sent to the Sriharikota space port for the launch.

India’s Chandrayaan programme is an ongoing series of outer space mission by Isro. The first moon rocket, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008, and was successfully inserted into lunar orbit.

Chandrayaan-2 was successfully launched and inserted into lunar orbit in 2019, but its lander “crash-landed” on the moon’s surface when it deviated from its trajectory while attempting to land on September 6, 2019, due to a software glitch.