Avinash karn
With the launch of its Chandrayaan-3 mission on Friday, India hopes to become only the fourth country to perform a controlled landing on the moon.
At about 2:30 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. ET), the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh state, launched Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit.
More than a million people watched the historic launch live on YouTube, and crowds flocked at the space centre to witness it.
A tweet from ISRO late on Friday night revealed that Chandrayaan-3 is in “precise orbit” and has “begun its journey to the moon.”
The spaceship, it was noted, is in “normal” condition.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied on Twitter, saying, “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey.” It reaches great heights, lifting every Indian’s hopes and aspirations. Our scientists’ unwavering commitment is on full display in this historic breakthrough. I applaud their initiative and creativity.
On August 23, the spacecraft will make a soft landing on the moon.
After a failed attempt in 2019 with the Chandrayaan-2, this is India’s second attempt at a gentle landing. In 2008, India successfully orbited the moon with its first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, before crashing it onto the moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3 is a lander, propulsion module, and rover developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Its goal is to land on the moon without incident and undertake a battery of scientific tests to better understand the body of the satellite.
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The United States, Russia, and China are the only other countries to have successfully soft-landed a spacecraft on the moon’s surface.
Best wishes to the @isro for #Chandrayaan3, a remarkable mission pushing the boundaries of space exploration!
Let's celebrate the strides in science, innovation, and human curiosity that have brought us this far. May this mission inspire us all to dream bigger and reach for… pic.twitter.com/63sJwonVcz
— Nitin Gadkari (मोदी का परिवार) (@nitin_gadkari) July 14, 2023
Indian engineers have spent years preparing for the launch. They hope to touch down Chandrayaan-3 near the difficult terrain of the moon’s uncharted South Pole.
Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, found molecules of water on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2 made it into lunar orbit 11 years later, but the rover it carried crashed to the lunar surface. The mission’s stated objective included a trip to the lunar south pole.
Despite the mission’s failure, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the engineers involved and vowed to continue developing India’s space programme.
A few hours before launch on Friday, Modi declared that the date “will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned.”
Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission takes off from Sriharikota,Andhra Pradesh.
🚀LVM3 Launch Vehicle Mk III takes the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO).
🌝#Chandrayaan3 consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module, and a rover… pic.twitter.com/pbhxmZO0Eq
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) July 14, 2023
Through this extraordinary endeavour, our nation’s hopes and dreams will be carried,” he tweeted.
Since then, India has poured over $75 million into the Chandrayaan-3 project.
Modi has stated that the rocket will travel more than 300,000 kilometres (186,411 miles) to reach the moon in the “coming weeks.”
Decades in the making
India has been working on its space programme for over sixty years, back when it was a poor, newly founded republic.
Even though it sent its first rocket into orbit in 1963, the country was already well behind the ambitious United States and the defunct Soviet Union in the space race.
India now has the largest population and the sixth largest economy in the world. It’s home to a rising hub of innovation and technology and has a rapidly expanding young population.
As a result, Modi has had to play catch-up with India’s space programme.
The leader came to office in 2014 on a platform of nationalism and India’s greatness in the future, and he sees the success of India’s space programme as a representation of his promise to bring India to the forefront of world affairs.
With the launch of the Mangalyaan probe in 2014, India became the first Asian country to reach Mars, spending only $74 million compared to the $100 million that Hollywood poured into the production of the space thriller “Gravity.”
India set a new record by launching 104 satellites in a single operation three years later.
Modi claimed in a rare public address in 2019 that India has conducted an anti-satellite test by shooting down one of its own satellites.
In the same year, former ISRO chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan announced that India would build its own space station by 2030. The International Space Station (a multi-national effort) and China’s Tiangong Space Station are the only two space stations that can host expedition crews at this time.
India’s space technology industry has been booming thanks to the country’s rapid expansion and innovation, and governments around the world have taken notice.
The White House reported last month that during Modi’s state visit to the United States, he met with Vice President Joe Biden, and the two discussed expanding their cooperation in the space industry.
The moon and Mars are just the beginning for India’s space programme. A plan to launch an orbiter to Venus has also been mooted by ISRO.
