Chandrayaan-3 liftoff successful: ISRO

July 14, 2023

Update: The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its third lunar mission--Chandrayaan 3 on-board the heavylift LVM3-M4 rocket here on Friday. At the end of the 25.30 hour countdown, the LVM3-M4 rocket, the largest and heaviest in its class and dubbed as 'Fat Boy' lifted off majestically at a prefixed time at 2.35 pm from the second launch pad, discharging thick plumes of smoke.

Thousands of spectators who had converged to witness the historic launch cheered the rocket as it made its ascent into the skies. With the Chandrayaan-3 mission, scientists are aiming at mastering soft-landing on the lunar surface, a challenging technical aspect which is planned for late August.

A successful mission would make India only the fourth country to achieve the rare feat after the United States, China and the former Soviet Union. Chandrayaan 3 follows the Chandrayaan 2 mission which did not achieve the desired soft landing on the surface of the moon in 2019, disappointing the scientists.