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India’s dream of achieving a soft landing on the Moon is coming closer to reality with the successful operations of Chandrayaan-3. On July 14, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM 3) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The rocket lifted off at 2:35 pm and the stage separations were executed precisely as planned.

About 16 minutes after lift-off, Chandrayaan-3 separated from the rocket and entered an elliptical cycle orbit around the Earth. It will orbit the Earth for about 5-6 times, with its closest point being 170 km and the farthest point being 36,500 km from Earth. ISRO announced the mission as accomplished after the satellite entered the orbit without any issues.

Various orbit-raising maneuvers were performed successfully in the following days. The first maneuver took place on July 15, raising the spacecraft’s orbit to 173 km at its closest point to Earth and 41,762 km at its farthest. The second maneuver was performed on July 17, placing the spacecraft in a 41,603 km x 226 km orbit. The third maneuver took place on July 18, resulting in a 51,400 km x 228 km orbit. On July 25, the fourth and fifth orbit-raising maneuvers were completed, bringing the spacecraft closer to its lunar trajectory.

On August 1, a slingshot maneuver was executed to send the spacecraft from Earth’s orbit towards the Moon. This maneuver allowed the spacecraft to escape Earth’s orbit and begin following a path towards the Moon. On August 5, Chandrayaan-3 successfully entered the lunar orbit, and on August 6, a planned orbit reduction maneuver brought the spacecraft closer to the Moon’s surface.

Further maneuvers were conducted to achieve a near-circular orbit around the Moon. An orbit reduction maneuver was performed on August 9, bringing the spacecraft to a 174 km x 1437 km orbit. On August 14, another orbit reduction maneuver was carried out, achieving a near-circular orbit of 150 km x 177 km. Finally, on August 16, the lunar bound maneuvers were completed, placing the spacecraft in an orbit of 153 km x 163 km.

On August 17, the Vikram lander detached from the spacecraft’s propulsion module, marking a significant milestone. The lander successfully underwent its first deboosting maneuver on August 18, and the second deboosting operation is scheduled for August 20.

The most challenging part of the mission, the soft landing, is planned for August 23. If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will make India the fourth country to achieve a lunar landing, joining the United States, Russia, and China.

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