Lunar odyssey Chandrayaan-3 lands safely: Reaching for the moon

July 14, 2023 LVM3 M4 vehicle launches Chandrayaan-3 into orbit from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

July 15 First orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earthbound firing-1) successfully performed; spacecraft in 41,762 km x 173 km orbit

July 17 Second orbit-raising manoeuvre performed; spacecraft in 41,603 km x 226 km orbit

July 22 Another orbit-raising manoeuvre completed using earth-bound perigee firing

July 25 ISRO performs one more orbit-raising manoeuvre; spacecraft in 71,351 km x 233 km orbit

August 1 ISRO inserts the spacecraft into translunar orbit; the orbit achieved is 288 km x 3,69,328 km

August 5 Lunar-orbit insertion done; orbit achieved is 164 km x 18,074 km, as intended

August 6 Second lunar-bound phase (LBN) performed; spacecraft is in a 170 km x 4,313 km orbit around the moon; video of moon as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during lunar orbit insertion released

August 9 Chandrayaan-3’s orbit reduced to 174 km x 1,437 km after a manoeuvre is performed

August 14 Mission is in orbit circularisation phase after another manoeuvre; spacecraft is in 151 km x 179 km orbit

August 16 Spacecraft brought down to an orbit of 153 km x 163 km after firing is completed

August 17 Lander module is successfully separated from the propulsion module

August 19 ISRO performs de-boosting of the lander module to reduce its orbit; lander module is in 113 km x 157 km orbit around the moon

August 20 One more de-boosting or orbit reduction manoeuvre on the lander module is performed; lander module is in 25 km x 134 km orbit

August 21 Chandrayaan-2 orbiter formally welcomes Chandrayaan-3 lander module saying ‘Welcome, buddy!’; two-way communication established

Mission Operations Complex (MOX) now has more ways to communicate with the lander module

August 22 ISRO releases images of the moon captured by the Chandrayaan-3’s lander position detection camera (LPDC) from an altitude of 70 km; system undergoes regular checks, smooth sailing continues

August 23 Soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander module on moon’s south pole successful at 6.04 pm