Terming the tests another milestone, the space agency said the tests were conducted in the first week of March 2023 at the test facilities located there. UR Rao Satellite Centre In Bangalore.
“These tests are an essential part of the qualification and acceptance process for any spacecraft. These tests were particularly challenging considering the composition of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s three modules— driving, Lander and rover,” ISRO said.
Vibration and acoustic tests conducted on the integrated spacecraft provided considerable confidence in structural integrity and survivability in the launch environment, it added.
Efforts to land Chandrayaan-3, India’s third moon mission and the second to land equipment on the lunar surface, have been moving at a fast pace over the past few months. There were two key tests related to the project that were completed in February and January.
On February 24, ISRO completed the flight acceptance hot-test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine that will power the GSLV-Mk3 or LVM3 launch vehicle’s cryogenic upper stage (CUS) for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
“The heating test was carried out for a planned duration of 25 seconds in a high altitude test facility. All propulsion parameters during testing were satisfactory and closely matched predictions. The cryogenic engine will be further integrated with the propellant tank, stage structure and associated fluid lines to realize a fully integrated flight cryogenic stage,” ISRO said.
And, between January 31 and February 3, the Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully underwent EMI/EMC (Electro-Magnetic Interference/Electro-Magnetic Compatibility) tests.
According to ISRO, the test is conducted for satellite missions to ensure the functionality of satellite subsystems in the space environment and their compatibility with expected electromagnetic levels. This experiment is a major milestone in satellite perception.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of three main modules – the propulsion module, the lander module and the rover – ISRO said, adding that the complexity of the mission called for establishing radio-frequency (RF) communication links between the modules.
“During EMI/EC testing of Chandrayaan-3 lander, launcher compatibility, antenna polarization of all RF systems, individual automatic compatibility tests for orbital and powered descent mission phases and lander and rover compatibility tests for post landing mission phase were ensured. The performance of the system was satisfactory,” ISRO said.
