Chandrayaan-3 undergoes last Moon-bound manoeuvre, prepares for separation

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed a crucial lunar-bound manoeuvre with Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday, the last such manoeuvre ahead of the scheduled separation of the spacecraft’s lander module from the propulsion module.

“Today’s successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound manoeuvres are completed,” ISRO said.

The space agency said with Wednesday’s manoeuvre, the propulsion module and lander module are gearing up for “their separate journeys”. The separation of the modules is planned for Thursday.

The orbit circularisation phase of the mission commenced on Monday when the spacecraft achieved a near-circular orbit of 150 km x 177 km.

The spacecraft was placed on a lunar orbit on August 5 and has since been lowered closer to the moon’s surface through a series of manoeuvres. Chandrayaan-3, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 14 is scheduled to touch down on the moon on August 23.