New Delhi: Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft completed its fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) on Tuesday, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
In the next step, the spacecraft is expected to shift to an Earth-to-Moon trajectory, where the Moon's gravity will eventually pull it into lunar orbit.
The objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, showcase the Rover's mobility on the Moon and to perform in-situ scientific experiments.
“The orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The spacecraft is expected to attain an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. The achieved orbit will be confirmed after the observations,” ISRO tweeted.
The space agency also said that the next firing, the TransLunar Injection (TLI), is planned for August 1, between 12 midnight and 1 am IST.
Chandrayaan-3 is India's third moon mission, and it took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 14, beginning its 3,84,000 kilometres from Earth to the Moon.
It is expected to reach the moon’s South Pole, a less explored location, in about 40 days, on August 23, for a soft landing with a lander and rover at 5:47 pm (local time). However, the timing may change based on the moon's sunrise. ISRO will reschedule the landing for September, in case of a delay.
In doing so, India would join the group of elite nations such as the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China, that had achieved the feat.
Chandrayaan-3 has completed five orbit-raising moves around Earth and is now expected to achieve an orbit of 127,609 km x 236 km, with the farthest and closest points in its elliptical orbit.
On August 1, the spacecraft will fire its thrusters to leave Earth's gravity and head towards the moon. It will then enter the moon's gravity and move into lunar orbit.
By the first week of August, Chandrayaan-3 will have completed 5-6 circles around the moon, entering the innermost circle. In the following 10 days, it will identify the exact landing spot in the moon's south pole area, Union Space Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday.