As India’s Chandrayaan-3 is all set to touch down on lunar soil on Aug 23, enthusiasm and excitement fill the hearts of Indians. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation  (ISRO), the lander is expected to make a soft landing near the South Pole of the moon on Aug 23 at 5.47 p.m.

Ahmedabad’s Space Application Centre (SAC) is one of the 21 centres of ISRO in the country. The SAC-ISRO of Ahmedabad made considerable contributions to the making of remote sensing satellites, computation satellites, navigation satellites, and Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3.

Ahmedabad’s SAC director, Nilesh Desai, informed about the technological application and processing of Chandrayaan-3, where the Ahmedabad centre made a major contribution. 

The director informed that SAC contributed to a total of 11 systems, including landing site selection processing, and the centre contributed 80% of the work. The landing site decided for Chandrayaan-3 is the same as it was for Chandrayaan-2. A space of 4 x 2.5 km is decided for the smooth landing of Chandrayaan-3.

3D visuals of Vikram lander’s landing space

21 changes towards the success

Instead of a success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, the ISRO opted for a failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3, focused on what can fail and how to protect it and ensure a successful landing.

For this , 21 changes have been made in the latest mission. Moreover, Vikram lander and sensor tests were carried out in Ahmedabad, Chitradurga (Karnataka), and Bangalore. ISRO has done crane tests, drone tests, helicopter tests, and tests regarding engine fire.

How Ahmedabad ISRO helped in Chandrayaan-3 mission?

One camera of Pragyaan rover made in Ahmedabad

After the successful landing of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface, the Pragyaan rover will take pictures of the lunar surface with the help of two cameras attached to it. One of the cameras is made at the SAC, Ahmedabad. Moreover, four lander hazard detection and avoidance cameras are also attached to the Vikram lander, which was also designed by Ahmedabad’s ISRO centre.

Ka-band radar system

The Ka-band radar altimeter (KaRA) system attached to the Vikram lander will activate 7.5 km above the lunar surface and send the necessary inputs to the ISRO headquarters. The processors of the hazard detector camera and KaRA were designed by Ahmedabad's ISRO centre.

Landing site selection

In the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the landing site and position were assigned by SAC.

For more such updates and news on the go, follow us on

Instagram | YouTube | Facebook