Chandrayaan-3 integrates with launch vehicle: Why is this significant?

The ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) between 12 and 19 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It is ISRO’s third intended moon exploration mission. It is a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, which was launched on 22 July 2019, but only partially succeeded due to a crash involving its lander and rover on the Moon on 6 September 2019, in the wee hours. The spacecraft will travel to the Moon for over two months, during which time it will attempt a “soft landing” on the lunar surface. ISRO, on Wednesday, announced that it had successfully integrated the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft with the launch vehicle, Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3), at the space centre. Taking to Twitter, the national space agency said, “LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Today, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 is mated with LVM3.”

🚀LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3🛰️ Mission:

Today, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 is mated with LVM3. pic.twitter.com/4sUxxps5Ah

— ISRO (@isro) July 5, 2023

Also read: ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-3 in July: Why this project is special LVM3 – ISRO’s history-making launch vehicle LVM3 is the biggest rocket ever built in India. Its overall length is 43.5 metres, gross lift-off weight is 640 tonnes, and payload fairing has a diameter of five metres. Previously known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III), the rocket is primarily used to launch satellites into geostationary transfer orbits (GTO), which are much farther away from the Earth, up to 35,000 kilometres. Originally planned for the early 2010s, the rocket’s maiden experimental flight — also known as a developmental or test flight — was postponed to accommodate the Mars Orbiter Mission, which launched in 2013, according to The Print. The rocket and its boosters underwent static fire tests in 2010, 2011, and 2015. 2022 saw static fire tests for the rocket’s human-rated version, which is being created for the Gaganyaan programme. In May 2017, tests on the cryogenic top stage were also successful.

🚀LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3🛰️ Mission:
Early hours today, at SDSC-SHAR, the movement of the LVM3 M4 vehicle with Chandrayaan-3 to the launch pad has commenced pic.twitter.com/Oxb7arzpYr

— ISRO (@isro) July 6, 2023

The LVM3 performed its first suborbital test flight with an artificial upper stage on 18 December 2014. It was carrying the Gaganyaan mission’s Crew Module Atmospheric Re-Entry Experiment (CARE). On 5 June 2017, the GSAT-19 was successfully launched into an orbit of 170 km during the maiden test mission into space. On 14 November 2018, the GSAT-29 was launched into a geostationary orbit during the second orbital test flight. Chandrayaan 2 was the launch vehicle’s first operational mission on 22 July 2019. At the time, the 4-tonne payload of this mission was the heaviest payload sent into orbit by ISRO. Most recently, in March of this year, it demonstrated its capacity to launch several satellites into space by placing 36 OneWeb satellites, each weighing around 6,000kg, in LEO. This was LVM3’s second commercial launch; the first one, the OneWeb India-1 mission, was launched by it in October 2022, according to The Indian Express. Also read: For ISRO, the Moon is not enough. Know why Technical specification As per Indian Express, several energy-producing components on rockets are removable. To power the rocket, they utilise a variety of fuels. When they run out of fuel, they separate from the rocket and drop off, frequently burning off in the atmosphere owing to air friction and being destroyed. For a satellite like Chandrayaan-3, just a little portion of the original rocket makes it to its final destination. This final piece of the rocket either burns off again after falling into the atmosphere after the satellite is eventually expelled or becomes part of space trash.

pic.twitter.com/7V6nHsxE5V

— ISRO (@isro) July 5, 2023

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LVM3 is essentially a three-stage launch vehicle that consists of a high-thrust cryogenic upper stage (C25), a liquid core stage (L110), and two solid strap-on motors (S200). Here’s how it functions – The two S200 boosters are ignited simultaneously as the vehicle takes off, according to ISRO. At around 113 seconds into the flight, when the S200 stages are firing, the core stage (L110) is ignited. After approximately 134 seconds of continuous operation, both S200 motors separate. During L110 firing, the payload fairing separates at an altitude of 115 km and at approximately 217 seconds. At 313 seconds, the L110 burnout, separation, and C25 ignition take place. At a nominal time of 974 seconds, the spacecraft is launched into a 180–36000 kilometre GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) orbit. Also read: Some good news: How Chandrayaan-2 brings cheer after ISRO's SSLV failure The integration A lander, rover, and propulsion module make up the Chandrayaan-3, which is unable to launch into space by itself. Like any satellite, it must be affixed to launch vehicles or rockets, in this instance the LVM3. Rockets feature strong propulsion systems that produce the enormous amounts of energy necessary to propel heavy things into space, such as satellites, and escape the gravity of the Earth. The lander will be able to “soft land” at a chosen location on the moon and release the rover, which will do in situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface as it is moving. Both the lander and the rover will be equipped with scientific payloads that will conduct lunar surface experiments. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.