What Chandrayaan-3 moon mission means for Indian space exploration
--
India successfully launched its third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, from its spaceport in Sriharikota today (July 14).
The robotic lander and rover duo that make up the spacecraft will attempt to gently land on our celestial neighbor next month. If it is successful in “soft-landing” on the moon, India will become the fourth nation after the United States, Russia and China to accomplish this feat, and the first to explore the moon’s south polar region, which has become a hotspot for space exploration.
Much of the continued interest in the moon’s south pole is because its permanently shadowed regions host abundant water ice — a crucial resource that scientists hope can be mined for life support as well as rocket fuel, thus establishing a base for sustained human presence on the moon, which itself is thought to be a stepping stone to reach Mars.
Unfolding in a crowded schedule of similar missions by other space agencies, the timing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is crucial for India. For example, Russia’s long-delayed moon landing mission at the Boguslavsky crater, also in the moon’s south pole and not far off from Chandrayaan-3’s targeted landing site, is now scheduled for August.
Late next month, Japan is planning to send its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission to demonstrate landing near the Mare Nectaris crater on the near side of the moon. Israel, whose first moon landing attempt failed after its Beresheet spacecraft crash-landed on the lunar surface, has also scheduled a sequel mission in the coming years.
So the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has been built with indigenous technology, is expected to open up opportunities for India’s flourishing space ecosystem, which has been steadily building and improving homegrown technology.
Some of those collaborations are already underway. When U.S. President Joe Biden met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, the two leaders discussed training Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, with a goal of sending an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024, according to the White House statement.
“We are today equal collaborators…while India looks up to the US for collaboration I have the courage to say, the US also looks up to us with equal enthusiasm,” Jitendra Singh, who is the Minister of State for Science and Technology, said in a conference earlier this week.
Other planned partnerships between India and other nations include a moon landing mission with Japan named Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX), whose proposed launch timeline is 2026–2028, a space-debris tracking effort with France, and building ground stations for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight program by teaming up with France and Australia.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission would play an important role in anchoring India’s position in future lunar exploration.
