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Road, digging works in Sriharikota halted as Isro gears up for Chandrayaan-3 launch
The ban aims to ensure there is no damage to critical communication lines used by the Indian Space Research Organisation to conduct essential pre-launch tests.
New Delhi: As the launch date of India’s third moon rocket on July 14 draws near, multiple agencies are working in tandem so that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft takes flight safely on Launch Vehicle Mark-3, with the telecom division of Tamil Nadu’s Sriharikota on Saturday banning all digging and construction activity around the Satish Dhawan Space Centre from July 9 to 14 to ensure all communication lines remain open.
The ban aims to ensure there is no damage to optical fibre cables and other critical communication lines used by the Indian Space Research Organisation to conduct essential pre-launch tests.
“Isro is launching LVM3-M4 on July 14 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. In this connection, it is absolutely essential to maintain stable communications without any interruption. The tests are in progress,” the order issued by the telecommunications division said.
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All major communication links connecting Isro’s space centre are maintained by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and pass through major roads in the area, including NH5 (Chennai-Perambur-Gummidipundi), NH205 (Chennai-Tiruvallur) SH56 (Perambur-Ponneri) and SH50 (Tiruvallur-Uthukotai), and connections to Vellore, Aarani, Thiruvattipuram, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Vandalur in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Vellore and Tiruvallur districts.
“For the success of the rocket launch, it is essential to ensure the BSNL optical fibre cables are not damaged due to road widening, road repair and other digging activities during the period July 9-14,” the order said.
The Chandrayaan programme, also known as the Indian lunar exploration 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.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous lander module, a propulsion module and a rover. Its objectives include 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 chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
The lander and rover will have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3 will be launched over Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket, which was previously known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100km lunar orbit.
