ISRO successfully tests CE-20 cryogenic engine for Chandrayaan-3

• The flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine that will power the cryogenic upper stage of the launch vehicle for the Chandrayaan-3 mission was successfully conducted.

• The hot test was carried out for a planned duration of 25 seconds at the High Altitude Test Facility of the ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

• All the propulsion parameters during the test were found satisfactory and closely matched with predictions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

• The cryogenic engine will be further integrated with the propellant tanks, stage structures and associated fluid lines to realise the fully-integrated flight cryogenic stage.

• Earlier this year, Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully underwent EMI/EMC test at U.R.Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. EMI-EMC (Electro-Magnetic Interference/ Electro-Magnetic Compatibility) test is conducted for satellite missions to ensure the functionality of the satellite subsystems in the space environment and their compatibility with the expected electromagnetic levels.

• Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota to orbit the Moon. It played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.

• Chandrayaan-2 mission was India’s first attempt to land on the lunar surface. It was launched on July 22, 2019. On September 7, Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander lost its contact with ISRO as it was only 2.1 km away from its designated landing spot on the Moon’s South Pole region. The lander Vikram made a hard landing on the lunar surface.

• Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. ISRO plans to launch the mission in June.

• It will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

• Chandrayaan-3 interplanetary mission has three major modules: the propulsion module, lander module, and a rover. The mission’s complexity calls for establishing radio-frequency (RF) communication links between the modules.

• The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

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