ISRO Chandrayaan-3 landing: Follow the latest news and live updates

Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram has touched down on the Moon's South Pole, making India the first country to acheive the feat.

Chandrayaan-3 has landed successfully!

Chandrayaan-3 is nearly 50 meters away from landing site. The vertical velocity is nominal. The altimeters are working as expected. Currently, only two engines are firing.

The Chandrayaan-3's performance is nominal and is approaching the landing site on the lunar surface. The altitude is about 600m.

The Lander Module is just 5km away from the Moon's surface. In the current phase, the altitude will be reduced to 800m (veritically).

After the current 'Rough Breaking' phase, Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module will enter the 'Altitude Holding' phase. It will last for about 10 seconds. The orientation of the module will flip from horizontal to vertical.

The power descent phase of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander has started. The lander is on its intended trajectory. The altitude will reduce to around 6km from around 30km.

After soft-landing, Vikram will release the Pragyan rover, which will also conduct investigations on the Moon. It packs two scientific instruments for that purpose.
One of them is the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) which can help determine the elemental composition of the lunar rocks and soil at the landing site. The other rover payload, called LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), can provide a qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of the lunar surface and estimate the chemical composition.

The Vikram lander, which weighs about 1,752kg, is carrying four scientific payloads, including an Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) that will scan for moonquakes. The onboard Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) can estimate the temperature of the Moon's surface. It is also ferrying a payload from NASA, called the LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA) which can provide insights into the dynamics of the Moon system. The lander's fourth payload, Langmuir Probe, will measure the density of plasma near the lunar surface and how it changes with time.

In less than an hour from now, Chandrayaan-3 is expected to attempt soft-landing near the Moon's south pole. ISRO will start streaming the event at 5:20pm via its YouTube account.

Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module, which includes the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, houses as many as 10 cameras. The Vikram lander has four on the front, two on the sides, and two at the rear. The Pragyan rover has two black and white stereo cameras.

Over the course of the mission's 14-day duration, Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover will perform a series of experiments. This includes analyzing the mineral composition of the lunar surface and detecting moonquakes. The lander is carrying a payload from NASA, called the LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA), which will shed light on the dynamics of the Moon system.

Post landing, Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander will deploy the Pragyan rover. Both the lander and rover will then start exploring the Moon by means of their onboard scientific payloads.
The mission is designed to last for one lunar day or 14 Earth days.

If Chandrayaan-3 is successful, India will become the first country to have landed near the Moon's south pole. It will also be the fourth country to achieve a controlled landing on the Moon, after US, Russia, and China.

ISRO plans to land Chandrayaan-3 near the Moon's south pole. This lunar region is believed to contain water ice which could be a valuable resource for supplying oxygen, fuel, and water for future missions.