ISRO establishes communication link with moon lander

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has established a communication link with its moon lander that is now on the lunar soil.

India’s moon lander part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission safely landed on the lunar surface on Wednesday.

“The communication link is established between the Chandrayaan-3 Lander and MOX-ISTRAC, Bengaluru,” ISRO said.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft comprises a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg) and a rover (26 kg).

The primary communication channel will be the Mission Operations Complex at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru, to Chandrayaan-3 Propulsion Module which in turn would talk to the lander and the rover.

Earlier, ISRO had said the moon lander had established communication links with the Chandrayaan-2 mission’s orbiter that is circling the moon since 2019.

The space agency also said the Mission Operations Complex now has more routes to communicate with the lander.

In other words, the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter will be the backup communication channel for ISRO with the lander.