Chandrayaan-3
First soft landing near the lunar south pole.
Chandrayaan-3 is India's third lunar mission, part of the Chandrayaan program run by ISRO. The spacecraft includes a lander named Vikram and a rover called Pragyan, which replaced the ones lost when Chandrayaan-2's lander crashed during its landing attempt in 2019 (the orbiter remains operational). Launched on 14 July 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the mission entered lunar orbit on 5 August and touched down near the Moon's south pole, at 69°S, on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST. That landing made ISRO the fourth space agency to successfully put a spacecraft on the Moon—after the Soviet Union, NASA, and China—and the first ever to achieve a soft landing in the south polar region.
Because the lander wasn't designed to survive the extreme cold of the lunar night, it was powered down at sunset, fourteen days after landing. The propulsion module, however, stayed operational. It was moved from lunar orbit to a high Earth orbit on 22 November 2023, where it now conducts scientific observations of Earth.
**History** Chandrayaan-2, launched on 22 July 2019 aboard an LVM3 rocket, carried an orbiter, a lander, and the Pragyan rover. The lander was supposed to touch down near the south pole on 6 September 2019 and deploy the rover, but it lost contact with mission control, veered off course, and crashed. The lunar south pole is of great scientific interest because studies suggest large deposits of ice there. That ice could contain compounds that would normally melt in warmer areas of the Moon, offering clues about the history of the Moon, Earth, and the Solar System. The region's mountains and craters create unpredictable shadows that protect the ice from melting, but they also make landing extremely difficult. For future crewed missions, the ice could provide oxygen, drinking water, and hydrogen for fuel.
The European Space Tracking network (ESTRACK) and NASA's Deep Space Network are supporting the mission. Under a new cross-support agreement, ESA tracking will assist upcoming ISRO missions like Gaganyaan (India's first human spaceflight) and the Aditya-L1 solar mission, while future ESA missions will get similar support from ISRO's ground stations.
On 12 December 2023, for the first time on the lunar surface, a laser from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was reflected back by a tiny NASA retroreflector on the Vikram lander. The goal was
- Launch date
- 14 July 2023
- Landing date
- 23 August 2023
- Landing site
- Lunar south pole, 69°S
- Operator
- ISRO
- Mission type
- Lunar lander and rover
- Lander
- Vikram
- Rover
- Pragyan
- Rover mass
- 27 kilograms
Lore & Background
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023 at 14:35 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. It entered lunar orbit on 5 August and touched down on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST. The mission replaced the lander and rover lost when Chandrayaan-2's lander crashed during landing in 2019 (the orbiter remains operational). The lander was shut down fourteen days after landing, as it was not built to withstand the cold lunar night. The orbiting propulsion module was repurposed for Earth observations and shifted to a high Earth orbit on 22 November 2023.
Reader's Guide
Chandrayaan-3's significance lies in its successful soft landing near the lunar south pole, a region of high scientific interest due to large amounts of ice that could provide insight into lunar, Earth, and Solar System history. The mission demonstrated ISRO's engineering capability to land safely and softly on the Moon, and the rover Pragyan conducted experiments on lunar surface composition. The lander carried a NASA-supplied Laser Retroreflector Array, which was used for laser ranging from orbit. The mission also tested radioisotope heating units for future deep space exploration. Its success established India as a key player in lunar exploration and enabled future cross-support arrangements with ESA and NASA.
Did You Know?
- The lander was shut down at sunset, fourteen days after landing, as it could not withstand the cold lunar night.
- A laser beam from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was reflected back by a retroreflector on the Vikram lander on 12 December 2023.
- The Pragyan rover has a mass of 27 kilograms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chandrayaan-3?
Chandrayaan-3 is India's third lunar exploration mission, developed and operated by ISRO. It carries a lander called Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, both designed to study the Moon's surface and composition.
Where exactly did Chandrayaan-3 touch down on the Moon?
The Vikram lander made contact near the lunar south pole at roughly 69 degrees south latitude. This made it the first spacecraft in history to achieve a soft landing in that region of the Moon.
When was Chandrayaan-3 launched and when did it land?
The spacecraft lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on 14 July 2023. It entered lunar orbit on 5 August and completed its surface landing on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST.
Why is Chandrayaan-3 considered a historic milestone for ISRO?
The successful landing made India the fourth nation to soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon, following the US, the Soviet Union/Russia, and China. It also marked the first-ever soft landing near the lunar south pole by any space agency.
How does Chandrayaan-3 connect to the earlier Chandrayaan-2 mission?
Chandrayaan-3 was essentially a follow-up after Chandrayaan-2's lander crashed during its 2019 descent, though that earlier orbiter remains in lunar orbit. The 2023 mission reused the same Vikram lander and Pragyan rover design to complete the landing the previous attempt failed to achieve.
More in Successful space missions 1-24
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