Chandrayaan-3 takes off; to land on moon on August 23 or 24

New Delhi: India Friday launched the third edition of its Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3 at 2.35 PM from the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Space Research Organisation expects the Chandrayaan-3 to reach the moon on August 23 or 24.

The Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, a rover and a propulsion module.

A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat, the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.

Friday's lunar expedition follows the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission where space scientists are aiming for a soft landing on the surface of the moon. 

Chandrayan-2 managed to land on the Moon but failed to do a soft landing due to some software and mechanical issues. Now they have worked on every aspect of it for four years and are hopeful to do a soft landing, the former scientist said.

Here is the timeline of the moon mission as undertaken by the ISRO:

August 15, 2003: Then Prime Minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee announces the Chandrayaan programme.

October 22, 2008: Chandrayaan-1 takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

November 8, 2008: Chandrayaan-1 enters a Lunar Transfer Trajectory.

November 14, 2008: The Moon impact probe ejects from Chandrayaan-1 and crashes near the lunar South Pole -- confirming the presence of water molecules on Moon's surface.

August 28, 2009: End of Chandrayaan 1 programme as per ISRO.

July 22, 2019: Chandrayaan-2 launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

August 20, 2019: Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft inserted into lunar orbit.

September 2, 2019: Vikram Lander was separated while orbiting the moon in a 100kms lunar polar orbit, however, communication from the lander to the ground stations was lost at an altitude of 2.1 km from the surface of the moon.

July 14, 2023: Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft scheduled to lift off from the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

August 23/24, 2023: Scientists at ISRO have tentatively scheduled soft landing on the lunar surface expected to take place by August 23-24 making India join elite nations to achieve the feat.