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Indian space agency ISRO has announced that Chandrayaan-3, India’s third moon mission, will take July 12 or July 13 at 2.30 pm. The spacecraft is set to embark on a journey for slightly over a month, with a projected landing on the moon’s surface around August 23.

While the exact launch date is yet to be finalized, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath stated that they are aiming to launch the mission at the earliest possible date, possibly on July 12 or July 13, IANS reported. The mission has been budgeted at Rs 615 crore.

According to the report, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which has undergone testing and been encapsulated inside the rocket’s payload fairing or heat shield, is being readied at the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh. The primary objective of this mission is to safely land the lander on the moon’s surface, followed by the deployment of a rover to conduct various experiments.

In comparison to the previous lander involved in the Chandrayaan-2 mission, several modifications have been made to the current lander. It will now feature four motors instead of five, and certain software changes have also been implemented. However, the official did not provide specific details about the naming of the lander and rover for this mission. It is possible that ISRO may retain the names of the earlier lander, Vikram, and rover, Pragyan, the IANS report said.

An important addition to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is the inclusion of the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload. This advanced equipment is designed to conduct extensive studies and gather valuable data on Earth’s spectral and polarimetric measurements from the lunar orbit.

This payload will play a crucial role in expanding our knowledge of Earth and furthering scientific research in the field of planetary exploration.

According to reports, ISRO has outlined three primary objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission: to achieve a safe and soft landing on the Moon, demonstrate the rover’s loitering capabilities on the lunar surface, and conduct in-situ scientific observations.