Chandrayaan 3: Coating of GSLV Mark III done at factory of Sangli entrepreneur, says Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar. File Pic

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said the coating of GSLV Mark III (now known as LVM3) was done at a factory owned by an entrepreneur in Sangli, which is a matter of pride for the state.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on board an LVM3-M4 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14.

The LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III, earlier referred to as GSLV Mk III) is a composite of three modules -- propulsion, lander and rover (which is housed inside the lander).

In a Facebook post, Pawar on Saturday said the coating of the GSLV Mark III rocket was done by Dazzle Dynacoates Pvt Ltd at a factory owned by Sandeep Sole in Sangli.

This is a matter of pride for the state, he said.

The ISRO scientists on Saturday successfully performed the first orbit raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, as per the space agency.

The health of the spacecraft was "normal", ISRO said in a social media post on Saturday.

Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully performed the first orbit raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on Saturday, the space agency said.

The health of the spacecraft was "normal", ISRO said in a social media post.

Chandrayaan-3 is now in an orbit, which when closest to Earth is at 173 kilometres and farthest from Earth is at 41,762 km.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission update: The spacecraft's health is normal. The first orbit raising manoeuvre (Earthbound firing-1) was successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762kms x 173kms orbit," Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO said and shared the image of the spacecraft that is expected to make several manoeuvres ahead of its final descent to land on the south pole of the Moon.

ISRO, on July 14, successfully launched the third edition of its lunar exploration programme from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, aimed at making a soft landing on the unexplored south pole of the Moon that would help India achieve a rare feat.

Only three countries -- the United States, China and Russia -- have managed to land on the lunar surface so far.

(With inputs from PTI)