Chandrayaan-3 lifts off successfully, carrying Moon lander Vikram
The spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Tamil Nadu at 2.35 pm IST today, carrying the Moon lander Vikram. Vikram is slated to land at 5.47 pm on August 23, at the lunar dawn.
A successful soft landing will make India the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to achieve a Moon landing. Vikram is scheduled to explore the Moon’s south pole.
This will be India’s second attempt at landing on the Moon, after the first one via Chandrayaan-2 failed in 2019 following the crashing of the lander Vikram on to the satellite’s surface.
The project cost around Rs 600 crore, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said while addressing the media.
