Bengaluru: The cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 M4 launch vehicle, which successfully injected the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the intended orbit on July 14 this year, made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the ISRO said.
This rocket body was part of the LVM-3 M4 launch vehicle, it said. It re-entered the Earth's atmosphere around 14:42 IST on Wednesday. "The probable impact point was predicted over the North Pacific Ocean. The final ground track did not pass over India," the Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement.
The re-entry of the rocket body took place within 124 days of its launch. The post-mission orbital lifetime of the LVM3 M4 cryogenic upper stage is, thus, fully compliant with the "25-year rule" for low-Earth orbit objects as recommended by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), ISRO said.