The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 5 completed the Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) to successfully put the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the moon’s orbit. The LOI manoeuvre was performed from ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. LOI manoeuvre commenced at 7 p.m.
“Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru,” the space agency said.
After the completion of the crucial manoeuvre, ISRO on its X social media platform posted “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity.”
Following the success of the LOI, ISRO will carry out four orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit at a distance of about 100 km from the moon’s surface. The first of these manoeuvres is scheduled to take place at 11 pm IST on August 6.
“The next operation – reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 11 pm IST,” ISRO said. The Chandrayaan-3 consists of a lander module (LM), a propulsion module (PM) and a rover.
The PM and LM separation would happen on August 17. A series of deboost manoeuvres is also scheduled to take place before the power descent phase for soft-landing on the moon. The lander is expected to touch down on the moon surface on August 23 at 5.47 p.m.
On August 4, the space agency said that India’s third moon mission, which was launched on July 14 has covered about two-thirds of the distance to the moon.