If everything goes as planned, India will be able to launch Chandrayaan-3 between 12 and 19 July, ISRO chairman S. Somanath said while opening the workshop and space exhibition.
The Chandrayaan is an Indian lunar mission to explore the unchartered South Pole of the moon by landing a rover.
In May, the rocket LVM-3, which will be used for the launch, already reached the launch pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, from U R Rao Satellite Centre. At present, the capsule is being assembled and that is expected to be completed by the end of June, Somanath stated.
After that, a slew of tests will be conducted.
"The docking operations of the LVM rocket for launch with the Chandrayaan will take place by the end of this month. There is a window for launch between 12 and 19 July, and we can only launch it during that window. We can do it later also, but we will suffer fuel losses," India's space agency chief said.
Last week, the ISRO chief said they were in no hurry to launch Chandrayaan 3, and the mission would proceed only once all precautionary steps had been taken.
He also said that to prevent any problems during the launch, "corrections have been made in Chandrayaan-3, in its hardware, structure, computers, software, and sensors".
"More fuel added, and the landing legs have been strengthened. Big solar panels have been fixed to get more energy and an extra sensor has been added. A 'Laser Doppler VelociMeter' instrument, developed last year, has been included to measure speed. We have also changed its algorithm and new software has been added to help Chandrayaan land in another area if there is any failure at the scheduled spot," the ISRO chairman added.
Once all the tests have been conducted successfully, Chandrayaan 3 is expected to be launched any time between 2024 and 2025.