India likely to plan its next moon mission with Japan: ISRO Chief S Somanath

National, 11th July 2023: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief S Somanath has stated that India is likely to embark on a new lunar mission alongside the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He said that space scientists would send a lunar rover and lander to study the Moon’s southern pole as part of this mission.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC before of the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission Somanath said, “We have a success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, but we have prepared a failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3. In case of any problem, Chandrayaan-3 has the capability to move to an alternate landing site.”

He further added, “We have expanded the landing area. So, it can land anywhere within that site. We have given more fuel.”

The Indian space agency’s chief did not confirm the mission’s date or timing, but the fourth spacecraft is expected to be launched by ISRO in partnership with Japan by 2026.

ISRO plans to launch the lunar exploration mission on Friday, July 14 at 2.35 p.m. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, will launch the spacecraft.

The major goal of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is to land softly on the moon’s surface. If all goes as planned, the Indian spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23 or August 24, 2023.
Chandrayaan-3 is an indigenous lander module with a propulsion model and a rover with scientific payloads to land on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-3 is the successor mission to Chandrayaan-2.

The second Chandrayaan spacecraft failed to settle on the moon’s surface following a crash landing after diverting from its trajectory. Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to land on the Moon’s surface on September 6, 2019, but it didn’t because of a software glitch.

India launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2018 and it will continue to function till August 2019. This was India’s first lunar probe, consisting of both an orbiter and an impactor.