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

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




     



    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.