Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India's space agency ISRO succesfully launched its Chandrayaan-3 rocket from the country's main spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday July 14, 2023 at 2:35 PM.
India's Moon lander Vikram, perched on a Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle -- dubbed the Bahubali rocket, is scheduled to reach the Moon on August 23 in 40 days.
If succesful, India will become 4th nation to accomplish the task. Previously, only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have completed successful lunar landings.
Earlier this year, a Japanese start-up attempted to get a lander to the moon, but the object crashed.
The mission comes four years after an earlier attempt ended in failure. India tried a similar mission in 2019, with the Chanrdayaan-2 rocket and a rover also called Vikram, as in the current mission — but the rover crashed as it attempted a soft landing on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 was built with a budget of under $75 million (€66.8 million). The cost of Chanrdayaan-2 was about $140 million - almost double than its latest version.
India plans for its companies to increase their share of the launch market fivefold, up from 2% in 2020.
India sent its first probe to orbit the Moon in 2008. In 2014, it became the first Asian country to put a satellite into orbit around Mars. Three years later, its space agency launched 104 satellites in a single mission.
The ISRO's Gaganyaan program is scheduled to launch a three-day manned mission into Earth's orbit in 2024.
The journey of Chandrayaan-3 from Earth to the Moon is estimated to take about a month. Upon landing on August 23, 2023, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days.
The Chandrayaan-3 will have three major components — a lander, a rover, and a propulsion model. It will be using the Orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 which still exists in the lunar atmosphere.
In a first, 'Vikram' will land in the South Pole of the Moon, where water molecules have been found. The finding, made during India's first Moon mission in 2008, had startled the world.
Vikram is meant to have a safe, soft landing. The lander will then release the rover Pragyan, which will roam the moon's surface for a lunar day -- equal to 14 earth days -- and conduct scientific experiments.
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