Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander completes first de-orbiting manoeuvre

The Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission has moved away from the main spacecraft, and closer to the moon, lowering itself into an orbit that was 104 km from the lunar surface at the nearest point and 128 km at the furthest.

The lander had separated itself from the main spacecraft on Monday and had started moving independently, though in the same orbit as the main spacecraft.

After a four second manoeuvre performed at 0850 am this morning, Vikram, which carries the Pragyaan rover inside, changed its orbit and reached closer to the moon. Through a similar operation on Wednesday, Vikram would lower itself further into an orbit that would be about 36 km from the lunar surface at its nearest point. It is from this orbit that it will begin its final descent on to the moon on the early hours of Saturday, reports The Indian Express.

The main spacecraft would continue to remain in its original orbit, and would relay information to the tracking station in Bengaluru for at least one year. “Both the Orbiter (main spacecraft) and Lander are healthy,” ISRO said in a statement after today’s manoeuvre.

The manoeuvre that took just 4 seconds was done using the onboard propulsion system, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. The lander’s next de-orbiting manoeuvre is now scheduled to take place on Wednesday, September 4 between 03:30-04:30 hours IST.