Chandrayaan-3: Fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre performed successfully

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday said that the Chandrayaan-3 has successfully performed the fifth Orbit-raising manoeuvre, also known as earth-bound perigee firing.

"The spacecraft is expected to attain an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. The achieved orbit will be confirmed after the observations," ISRO said in a tweet.

It expects the next firing, that is the TransLunar Injection (TLI), to take place on August 1, 2023, between 12 midnight and 1 am Indian Standard Time.


Following the TLI, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft would escape from orbiting the Earth and follow a path that would take it to the vicinity of the Moon, an ISRO official told PTI.

In other words, the spacecraft would begin its journey towards the Moon on August 1, after leaving the Earth's orbit following the sixth TLI manoeuvre, which would place it on "lunar transfer trajectory".


Earlier, on July 25, the fourth firing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft took place from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was launched on July 14. ISRO has said it would attempt soft-landing of the lander on the Moon's surface on August 23.