Chandrayaan-3 undergoes another orbit reduction manoeuvre, gets closer to Moon's surface

Bengaluru: Chandrayaan-3 ventured closer to the lunar surface on Monday with another successful manoeuvre of the spacecraft by ISRO, the national space agency said. The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said the spacecraft has now achieved a "near-circular orbit" around the Moon.

Post its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3, the country's ambitious third Moon mission entered into lunar orbit on August 5, following which two orbit reduction manoeuvres were carried out on the spacecraft on August 6 and 9. "Orbit circularisation phase commences. Precise manoeuvre performed today has achieved a near-circular orbit of 150 km x 177 km," ISRO said in a tweet.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Orbit circularisation phase commences

Precise maneuvre performed today has achieved a near-circular orbit of 150 km x 177 km

The next operation is planned for August 16, 2023, around 0830 Hrs. IST pic.twitter.com/LlU6oCcOOb

— ISRO (@isro) August 14, 2023

The next operation is planned for August 16, around 08.30 am, it said.

As the mission progresses, a series of manoeuvres are being conducted by ISRO to gradually reduce Chandrayaan-3's orbit and position it over the lunar poles.

According to ISRO sources, one more manoeuvre will be performed on the spacecraft on August 16 to reach 100 km orbit, following which the landing module, comprising the lander and rover will break away from the propulsion module.

After this, the lander is expected to undergo a "deboost" (the process of slowing down) and make a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon on August 23.