13.07.23

August 15, 2003: Then Prime Minister, the lateAtal Bihari Vajpayeeannounces theChandrayaan programme.

October 22, 2008: Chandrayaan-1 takes off from theSatish Dhawan Space Centreat Sriharikota.

November 8, 2008: Chandrayaan-1 enters a Lunar Transfer Trajectory.
November 14, 2008: The Moon impact probe ejects from Chandrayaan-1 and crashes near the lunar South Pole — confirming the presence of water Molecules on Moon’s surface.

August 28, 2009: End ofChandrayaan1 programme as perISRO.
July 22, 2019: Chandrayaan-2 launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

August 20, 2019: Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft inserted into lunar orbit.

September 2, 2019: Vikram Lander was separated while orbiting the moon in a 100kms lunar polar orbit, however, Communication from the lander to the ground stations was lost at an altitude of 2.1 km from the surface of the moon.

July 14, 2023: Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft scheduled to lift off from the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

August 23/24, 2023: Scientists at ISRO have tentatively scheduled soft landing on the lunar surface expected to take place by August 23-24 making India join elite nations to achieve the feat.

Key points of Chandrayaan 3:

Chandrayaan-3is the third lunar exploration mission ready for take off in the fourth operational mission (M4) of LVM3 launcher.
The soft landing on the moon’s surface is planned for late August.

The largest and heaviest LVM3 rocket (formerly GSLV MkIII), fondly called as ‘fat boy’ by ISRO scientists for its heavylift capability, has completed six consecutive successful missions.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2. Unlike its predecessor, which carried an orbiter along with Vikram & Pragyan (the rover), Chandrayaan-3 is a composite of 3 modules: Propulsion, lander and rover.

The spacecraft will weigh 3,900kg – the propulsion module weighs 2,148kg, while the lander module, including the rover, weighs 1,752 kg.
Unlike Chandrayaan-2, when the landing was tracked through a Madrid (NASA-JPL) station, this time tracking of the lander will happen fromIsro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) station in Bengaluru.

The DEFENCE ministry on Thursday approved the acquisition of 26 Rafale-Marine fighter jets and three Scorpene diesel-electric submarines from France, paving the way for the formal announcement of the two proposed mega deals at the Modi-Macron summit.

The Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) accorded the acceptance of necessity (AoN) to the twin procurements for theNavy, which together will cost upwards of Rs 80,000 crore (9 billion)

With the indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) likely to take at least a decade to become operational, the Navy had pushed for the 26 Rafale-M jets as an interim measure.

Less than a month after the historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, a Congressional Senatorial Committee has passed a resolution recognisingArunachal Pradeshas an integral part of India.

The resolution reaffirms that the United States recognises the McMahon Line as the international boundary between the People’s Republic of China and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It pushes back against Chinese claims that large portions of Arunachal Pradesh are PRC territory, which is a part of the PRC’s increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies

With the European Parliament adopting a resolution on Manipur that called upon the Indian government to take all necessary measures to stop the violence there, the government Thursday slammed the interference in Indias internal affairs calling it unacceptable and reflecting a colonial mindset.

The European Parliament would be well advised to utilise its time more productively on its internal issues, said the government. India had earlier reached out to the EU lawmakers explaining to them this was an internal matter of India.