Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 Integrated Module | |
| Mission type | |
|---|---|
| Operator | ISRO |
| COSPAR ID | 2023-098A |
| SATCAT no. | 57320 |
| Website | Official website |
| Mission duration | 1 year, 1 month and 8 days (PM)
|
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | I-3K (modified) Propulsion Module; Vikram (lander) |
| Manufacturer | ISRO |
| Launch mass | 3900 kg (8600 lb) |
| Payload mass | Propulsion Module: 2148 kg (4736 lb) Lander Module (Vikram): 1726 kg (3806 lb) Rover (Pragyan) 26 kg (57 lb) Total: 3900 kg (8600 lb) |
| Power | Propulsion Module: 758 W Lander Module: 738 W (WS with Bias) Rover: 50 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 14 July 2023, 14:35:17 IST (09:05:17 UTC) |
| Rocket | LVM3 M4 |
| Launch site | Satish Dhawan Space Centre |
| Contractor | ISRO |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 22 August 2024, 04:20 UTC |
| Moon orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | 5 August 2023 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Periselene altitude | 153 km (95 mi) |
| Aposelene altitude | 163 km (101 mi) |
| Moon lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Vikram lander |
| Landing date | 23 August 2023, 18:00 IST (12:33 UTC) |
| Return launch | 3 September 2023 |
| Landing site | Statio Shiv Shakti (Shiv Shakti Point)
69°22′23″S 32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E (between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters) |
| Moon rover | |
| Landing date | 23 August 2023 |
| Distance driven | 101.4 m (333 ft) |
| Moon lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Vikram lander |
| Landing date | 3 September 2023 |
| Landing site | 40 cm (16 in) away from Statio Shiv Shakti (Shiv Shakti Point) (between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters) |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Spacecraft component | Propulsion module |
| Closest approach | 7 November 2023 |
Mission insignia | |
Chandrayaan-3 (CHUN-drə-YAHN /ˌtʃʌndrəˈjɑːn/) is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission consists of a Vikram lunar lander and a Pragyan lunar rover, as replacements for the equivalents on Chandrayaan-2, which had crashed on landing in 2019.
The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023, at 14:35 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, India. It entered lunar orbit on 5 August, and touched down near the lunar south pole, at 69°S, on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST (12:33 UTC). With this landing, ISRO became the fourth national space agency to successfully land on the Moon, after the Soviet space program, NASA and CNSA.
The lander was not built to withstand the cold temperatures of the lunar night, so it was shut down at sunset over the landing site, twelve days after landing. The orbiting propulsion module remained operational and was repurposed for scientific observations of Earth; it was shifted from lunar orbit to a high Earth orbit on 22 November 2023,where it remained in service until 22 August 2024.