Analysis of Chandrayaan-3 Propulsion Module Engine Performance

Chandrayaan-3 became the first spacecraft to land on the lunar surface near the south pole of the moon on 23rd August 2023. The spacecraft was inserted into an elliptical orbit by the launch vehicle, following which the spacecraft went under multiple orbit raising maneuvers using a LAM engine. Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft composite consisted of two modules viz., Propulsion Module and Lander Module. The Propulsion Module of Chandrayaan-3 employed a bi-propellant chemical propulsion system propelled using a LAM engine and eight 22N RCS thrusters. LAM Engine incorporated in Chandrayaan-3 was an AR-250 class engine. LAM engine has a heritage of over 50 flights and was critical to all the earth bound and lunar spacecraft maneuvers. Reliable and repeatable performance of the propulsion system and the LAM engine are critical for the optimized operations of mission. This paper highlights the test and flight performance analysis of the LAM engine used in Chandrayaan-3.