Vikram is the name of the ‘lander’ of Chandrayaan-3 which will split from the spacecraft’s propulsion module today. The lander Vikram will then make an attempt at a soft landing on the Moon’s surface on August 23.

The Vikram lander will be able to make a soft landing at a chosen lunar location and install the rover, which will conduct in-motion chemical analysis of the Moon’s surface.

Both the lander and the rover carry scientific packages that will conduct lunar surface research.

The propulsion module will keep traveling in the same orbit when the lander Vikram separates from the spaceship.

On August 23, the Pragyaan lander and rover are planned to touch down on the Moon. The lunar lander Vikram will take pictures of the rover Pragyaan while it melts a chunk of the lunar surface known as regolith using its laser beams.

The Pragyaan rover, which will deploy its equipment to investigate seismic activity on the lunar surface, will be photographed by the Vikram lander when it lands on the moon.

On Aug 16, India’s ambitious Chandrayaan-3 moon mission successfully completed its fifth and final lunar-bound orbit maneuver, advancing its spacecraft even closer to the Moon’s surface.

The spaceship will now get ready to prepare to separate the lander Vikram from the propulsion module after finishing all of its maneuvers to reach the moon.

Chandrayaan-3 update:

Chandrayaan-3 has successfully entered the short-duration orbit of targeted 153 km x 163 km, thanks to today’s successful firing. It marks the end of lunar-bound maneuvers. As the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module get ready for their respective trips, it’s time for preparations, ISRO posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Vikram, Chandrayaan-3’s lander, will disengage from the spacecraft. The LVM3 rocket carried Chandrayaan-3 into orbit on July 14 in Sriharikota.

On July 14, the LVM3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit. On August 5, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit. It is likely to touch down on the Moon on August 23.

Yesterday, ISRO successfully completed all lunar-bound procedures to position the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a 153 by 163 km circular orbit around the Moon.