ISRO integrates spacecraft with rocket for launch

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research organisation on Wednesday mated the encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft with LVM3, its new heavy lift launch vehicle, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.

“Today, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 is mated with LVM3”, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency tweeted. ISRO has said the Chandrayaan-3 mission is slated to be launched between July 13 and July 19. “We are aiming to launch it on July 13”, an ISRO official said.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma environment and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.

While the scope of these scientific instruments on the lander and the rover would fit in the theme of “Science of the Moon”, another experimental instrument will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth from the lunar orbit.