India flying to the Moon! [Live: 14.07.2023, UTC 09:05]

avatar
(Edited)

The recent past of space flight has been dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Chinese space program. Somewhat under the radar ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) has been entering the arena.

Scott Manely: How India Developed World Class Rockets From Humble Beginnings

On this mission India is trying to send a rover to the surface of the Moon. India would be only the fourth nation to reach the surface after the United States, the Soviet Union and China.
The mission is called Chandrayaan-3 (translation: mooncraft). The payload consists of a propulsion module (2148 kg), the Vikram lander (1752 kg) and the Pragyan rover (26 kg) and adds up to 3900 kg.
India tried to launch a very similar mission in July of 2019 (Chandrayaan-2. It failed shortly (approximately 7 km above ground) before a soft landing due to software issues.
Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first mission to the Moon. It included an orbiter and an impactor.
The payload will launch on the domestically produced Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3). This rocket is comparable to the capabilities of a Falcon 9. In particular it can compete on price. Cost per launch is quoted at around $63 million.

Where to watch:


Useful links to stay up to date on launches:

Spaceflightnow.com: Launch Schedule

Nextspaceflight: Launches

Everyday Astronaut: Prelaunch Previews

Space News:

NASA Spaceflight nasaspacefight.com

TMRO: YouTube

Track Starlink satellites: https://satellitemap.space/

Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink


Vote for my witness: @blue-witness

Posted with STEMGeeks



0
0
0.000
8 comments
avatar

Oh man, we don't hear much about the Indian program in the media.

!discovery 19

0
0
0.000
avatar

They are running a pretty impressive program over there. All their own design. And very cost efficient. They seem ambitious.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks for your contribution to the STEMsocial community. Feel free to join us on discord to get to know the rest of us!

Please consider delegating to the @stemsocial account (85% of the curation rewards are returned).

You may also include @stemsocial as a beneficiary of the rewards of this post to get a stronger support. 
 

0
0
0.000