The GSLV Mk III rocket with the Chandrayaan 2 mission onboard lifts off on July 22, 2019, from Sriharikota. Photo: ISRO
New Delhi: Chandrayaan-3, India’s lunar mission, is likely to be launched during the quarter of 2022, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday, stressing that its progress was hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Singh, the minister of state in-charge of the Department of Space, said the launch of Chandrayaan-3 has been rescheduled.
“Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched during the third quarter of 2022 assuming normal work flow henceforth,” he said.
Singh added that the realisation of Chandrayaan-3 involves various processes, including finalisation of configuration, subsystems realisation, integration, spacecraft level detailed testing and a number of special tests to evaluate the system performance on earth.
“The realisation progress was hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“However, all works that were possible in the work from home mode were taken up even during the lockdown periods. Chandrayaan-3 realisation resumed after commencement of unlock period and is in matured stage of realisation,” he said.
Chandrayaan-2, aimed at landing a rover on the unchartered Lunar South Pole, was launched on July 22, 2019, on board the country’s most powerful geosynchronous launch vehicle.
However, the lander Vikram hard-landed on September 7, 2019, crashing India’s dream to become the first nation to successfully land on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt.
Chandrayaan-3 is critical for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as it will demonstrate India’s capabilities to make a landing for further interplanetary missions.