Chandrayaan-3 to be launched between July 12 and 19: ISRO chief

If all the tests go smoothly, Chandrayaan-3, India’s ambitious plan to land on the surface of the Moon, will be launched between July 12 and 19, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath said here on Monday.

Speaking to the media after inaugurating a one-day workshop and space exhibition at Kothavara St Xavier’s College organised by ISRO, Somanath said that the Chandrayaan has already reached the launch pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, from U R Rao Satellite Centre.

”The final preparations are going on. It will be completed by the end of this month. At the same time, the rocket, LVM-3, is going to be used for this launch. Its assembly is going on. All parts for its assembly have reached Sriharikota,” Somanath said.

He said the rocket assembly will also be completed by the end of this month and then there is a process to integrate Chandrayaan-3 with the rocket. He said that too would be done in the last week of June and many tests will follow.

”There is a window for launch between July 12 and 19 and we can only launch it during that window. We can do it later also but we will suffer fuel losses,” Somanath said.

However, he said, the launch would be conducted during this window only if all the tests are conducted successfully.

He said in order to prevent any problems during the upcoming launch, corrections have been made in Chandrayaan-3, in its hardware, structure, computers, software, and sensors.

”More fuel has been added, the landing legs have been strengthened further. Big solar panels have been fixed for more energy production. Another additional sensor is also added.

”To measure its speed, a ‘Laser Doppler VelociMeter’ instrument, which was developed in the last year, has been added. We have also changed its algorithm and new software has been added to help Chandrayaan to land in another area if there is any failure at the scheduled spot,” the ISRO chief said.