Chandrayaan-3 took about 40 days to reach the Moon after its launch on July 14, 2023. It entered lunar orbit on August 5, 2023, and made a soft landing near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023
. This longer travel time compared to Apollo missions (which took about 3 days) is due to the use of a fuel-efficient trajectory involving multiple Earth orbits and orbital maneuvers. ISRO used a series of "bi-elliptic transfers" and gravity assists to gradually raise the spacecraft's orbit and synchronize with the Moon's orbit, compensating for the lack of a more powerful rocket to do a direct lunar transfer
. In summary:
- Launch: July 14, 2023
- Lunar orbit insertion: August 5, 2023 (about 22 days after launch)
- Soft landing on Moon: August 23, 2023 (about 40 days after launch)
Thus, Chandrayaan-3 took approximately 40 days from Earth launch to lunar surface touchdown
