ISRO reveals Chandrayaan-3 launch date; new rover made 'more robust' after last mission's Moon crash

India's space agency has announced the launch date of its third mission to the Moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 20 October 2022 said that Chandrayaan-3 will be launched in June 2023.

ISRO chairman S. Somnath said that Chandrayaan-3 will include a "more robust" lunar rover to avoid problems suffered by Chandrayaan-2. In September 2019, India's maiden attempt to land a rover on the surface of the Moon had ended in failure. The Vikram lander onboard Chandrayaan-2 had crashed on the Moon.

ISRO's chief said that the new rover has "significantly different" engineering. This includes stronger impact legs, and better instrumentation, so that if one system fails, another will take over. It will also have different methods to calculate the height to be travelled, identify hazard-free locations and have better software.

Chandrayaan-3 will be launched with Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), which is India's heaviest rocket.