'Our Diwali has begun,' says ISRO chairman following the largest rocket launch; Chandrayaan 3 is expected in June.

• Image Credit: Internet

• Oct 23, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

Digital
Desk:  ISRO chairman Dr. S Somanath said
Diwali began a day early for the space agency with the successful launch of the
biggest rocket carrying 36 communication satellites. Dr. Somanath stated at the
press conference that the Chandrayaan 3 is "nearly ready."
"Chandrayaan-3 is nearly finished. Final integration and testing are
nearly finished. Still, some more tests are pending, so we'll perform it later.
There were two openings, one in February and one in June. We would prefer to
schedule the launch for June 2023 "ANI reported that he said this.

All 36
satellites were sent into orbit 75 minutes after the rocket took off from the
spaceport here.

The achievement overcame the August
anomaly when the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) mission rendered the
satellites inoperable.

Somanath, also the Secretary of the
Department of Space, described the mission as "historic," and
credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's backing for the project's success.

"Congratulations to the whole
launch vehicle crew for seizing the chance and preparing it for the historic
mission today. I'd also want to thank the OneWeb team for putting their trust
in us to host the LVM3...we're hoping that the next mission of the LVM3 will do
the same to deploy the other 36 satellites contracted by NSIL ", he
explained.

Chandrayaan-3 was supposed to
demonstrate India's capacity to land softly on a celestial body, with the rover
connecting with Earth via the orbiter from Chandrayaan-2. The current orbiter
is expected to last seven years.

The mission was announced months
after the Vikram lander aboard Chandrayaan-2 crashed-landed on the lunar
surface in September 2019, barely 2.1 kilometers from its destination.

Chandrayaan-3 was supposed to launch in late 2020 or early
2021, but it had to be postponed owing of the Covid-19 epidemic.

ISRO had completed the propulsion system for Chandrayaan-3
prior to the second wave of the epidemic in April. The lander and propulsion
systems were being connected, and many tests for the middle of the year were
scheduled.