To the Moon and Back: Chandrayaan 1 to Chandrayaan 3

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Friday, in hope to make India only the fourth country to achieve the feat after the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.

Here is the timeline of the moon mission as undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

August 15, 2003: Then Prime Minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee announces the Chandrayaan programme.

October 22, 2008: Chandrayaan-1 takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 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 of Chandrayaan 1 programme as per ISRO.

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 lifted 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.