After moving around the Earth, Chandrayaan III has now left for the moon.
It is currently on the blue line – on the way from the orbit of the Earth to the orbit of the moon.
To perform this manouvre, Chandrayaan 3 first moved away from the Earth’s orbit until it reached the perigee, a crucial point in the moon’s gravity. Then, the thrusters of the Chandrayaan 3 were used to strategically move into the moon’s orbit.
To get closer to the moon’s inner orbit, the lunar orbit in insertion will take place on 5th August.
ISRO released the following statement:
The spacecraft’s health is normal.
Today’s perigee burn has successfully raised Chandrayaan-3 orbit to 288 km x 369328 km.
In this orbit, the spacecraft enters the moon’s sphere of influence.
A crucial maneuver at perilune would achieve the Lunar Orbit Injection (LOI).