New Delhi, May 21
The launch of ISRO’s ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is most likely to take place on July 12. The spacecraft will attempt a soft touchdown near the Lunar South Pole on August 23, sources said.
The ISRO had earlier officially confirmed that Chandrayaan-3 mission was scheduled for launch in the second week of July.
Carried aboard GSLV MK3 launcher, Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and movement by a rover on the lunar surface.
The ISRO has begun the final assembly of the scientific payloads onto Chandrayaan-3, following which the spacecraft would be shipped to the spaceport at Sriharikota for the launch.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of a lander module, a propulsion module (orbiter) and a rover — all three made indigenously. The lander weighs 1,752 kg, including the rover which weighs 26 kg. Their mission life is one lunar day (equivalent to 14 earth days).
