ISRO To Launch Its Third Moon Mission, Chandrayaan-3 In June 2023

ISRO plans to launch its third mission to the moon -- Chandrayaan-3 -- in June next year, including a new rover built from the ground up, according to a report by PTI.

NASA

The report also highlighted that it plans on executing the first test of the ¡®abort mission¡¯ for the nation¡¯s first manned spaceflight -- Gaganyaan -- sometime early next year.

This was revealed by ISRO chairman, S Somnath at a press conference. He said in a statement, "Chandrayaan-3 (C-3) launch will be in June next year onboard the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3)."

If the abort missions as well as uncrewed test flights are successful, ISRO could fly Indian astronauts into orbit by the end of 2024.

In 2019, India¡¯s maiden attempt to land a rover on Moon was unsuccessful aboard the Chandrayaan-2 mission after it crashed on the lunar surface. The mission however was partly successful as the orbiter continues to send crucial lunar data to this day.

Somnath added, "C-3 is ready now. It is not a replica of C-2. The rover is there. The engineering is significantly different. We have made it more robust so that it does not have problems like last time. There are many changes. The impact legs are stronger. It will have better instrumentation. In case something fails, something else will take over."

One of the biggest improvements in the new landing mechanism is inclusion of various methods of calculating height, identification of hazard-free locations and even revamped software.

For Gaganyaan, they've planned six test flights and only after successfully completing these test flights, the manned spaceflight will take place. Somnath also acknowledged that the pace of Gaganyaan mission has been slow yet steady, "This is the right way to put it. It is a very complex mission. We cannot boast about it. It requires very critical steps to be crossed."

Gaganyaan¡¯s first uncrewed flight will involve two abort missions which would demonstrate that the spacecraft is capable enough to rescue the crew in case of any eventuality. The first one will be conducted in trans-sonic conditions when the spacecraft is travelling at the speed of sound, at an altitude of 10 to 15 kilometres.

ISRO

The second one would demonstrate crew rescue capabilities when the spacecraft is at twice the speed of sound and in ¡®not so good¡¯ aerodynamic conditions.

As part of the abort mission, the scientists will have to sail the crew from the launch vehicle using a saving system and land the capsule carrying the crew in water and collect it.

Somnath concluded stating, "If this is successful, we will repeat it once again and then we will go for an unmanned mission. The unmanned mission will be a full-fledged rocket. It will go to orbit, then it will come back. We will repeat the abort missions two more times followed by another unmanned mission.¡±

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