Chandrayaan-3 Leaves Earth's Orbit

Now the next stop is Moon…

On Tuesday, 01 August 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation injected the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the translunar orbit.

"Chandrayaan-3 has successfully completed its orbits around the Earth.

Now it is going towards the moon," the national space agency headquarters said.

"A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network).

ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit," it said.

"Next stop is the moon. As it arrives at the moon, the Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for August 5, 2023," it added.

An ISRO official told the news agency PTI that following Tuesday's trans-lunar injection (TLI), the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and is now following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the Moon.

In other words, the spacecraft began its journey towards the Moon on Tuesday, after leaving the Earth's orbit following the TLI maneuver.

It is placed on a 'lunar transfer trajectory'.

The ISRO had said it would attempt a soft landing of the lander on the lunar surface on August 23.

Earlier, the spacecraft's orbit was increased five times after the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was launched on July 14.