India's Chandrayaan-3 rocket lifted off successfully from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh today. If successful, the mission will make India the fourth country to achieve a controlled landing on the moon, after Russia, the United States, and China.
The moon lander Vikram is perched on a Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle – dubbed the Bahubali rocket. It is set to land on the Moon on August 23.
The Chandrayaan-3 will have three major components — a lander, a rover, and a propulsion model. It will be using the Orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 which still exists in the lunar atmosphere.
The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkIII) also dubbed as 'Fat boy' for its heavylift capability, soared off majestically from the spaceport at the prefixed time of 2.35 pm from the second launch pad, leaving a trail of thick orange smoke.
Thousands of spectators who had assembled here to watch the launch since morning broke into loud cheers and applauded as the launch vehicle soared into clear skies.
Through the Chandrayaan-3 mission, scientists are aiming at mastering the technology of soft-landing on the surface of the moon.
About 16 minutes after lift-off, Chandrayaan 3 got separated from the rocket and it would orbit the earth for about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit.
A jubilant ISRO Chairman S Somanath said from the Mission Control Centre (MCC) the rocket had injected Chandrayaan 3 into a precise orbit.
"Congratulations, India. Chandrayaan 3 has started its journey towards moon. Our dear LVM 3 has already put Chandrayaan 3 craft into the precise orbit around earth… and let us wish all the best for Chandrayaan 3 craft for its further orbit raising maneuvers and travel towards moon in the coming days," he said.
Mission Director S Mohana Kumar said that LVM3 rocket has once again proved to be the most reliable heavy lift vehicle of ISRO.
"We are in the process of increasing the launch frequency of this vehicle considering the national requirements as well as satellite demands," he said.
Today's mission was a 'penance' of many across ISRO, he added.
Project Director P Veeramuthuvel said all the spacecraft health parameters, including power generation in propulsion module and lander module, were normal.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh described today's event as a moment of glory for India and moment of destiny for all those in Sriharikota.
Lauding team ISRO for making India proud, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi "for making this possible by unlocking the gates of Sriharikota and enabling India's space sector."