Second orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft performed: ISRO

The second earth-bound orbit raising manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed in the early hours of Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. “The manoeuvre was carried out at 1.08 am using the on-board propulsion system for a firing duration of 883 seconds,” the space agency said in a statement.

With this effort, the spacecraft was pushed to an orbit of 251 X 54,829 km, it said.

ISRO announced that all the parameters of the spacecraft were normal.

The earth-bound manoeuvres had started from Wednesday and it will culminate into Trans Lunar Insertion, scheduled on August 14, 2019, which will send the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft to the moon.

On July 22, ISRO scripted history as Chandrayaan-2, the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg spacecraft into the earth orbit 16 minutes and 14 seconds later. According to a statement by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Chandrayaan-2, a three-module spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, will be subjected to a series of orbit manoeuvres using its onboard propulsion system to take it to the vicinity of Moon over the next weeks with the rover soft landing planned on September 7.

The Rs 978 crore mission was called off on July 15 barely an hour before the lift-off after the scientists noticed a glitch in the three-stage rocket during the propellant filling phase. However, after quick remedial action it was rescheduled for Monday and launched successfully.

If successful, it will make India the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to pull off a soft landing on the moon.