Daily briefing: From ISRO’s space journey to future of space tech, here’s all what Chandrayaan-3 brings with it

The Moon is Indian

India has officially made it to the Moon! As the whole nation watched with bated breath, the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module gently descended on the lunar surface on Wednesday evening. With this, India has become the first country to successfully land in the unexplored south pole of the Moon, believed to be a reservoir of frozen water key to future space missions.

So, where does this leave India? According to C Raja Mohan, ISRO’s latest feat heralds a new era in India’s engagement with space. He outlines five key takeaways for New Delhi. 

It took hundreds of ISRO scientists working behind the scenes to make the moon landing possible. Meet the team behind the ambitious mission.

So what’s next for India’s Moon mission? Well, ISRO is preparing for one more lunar mission, this one in collaboration with the Japanese space agency, JAXA. This mission, called LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, is slated for 2024-25.  But there would be more in the Chandrayaan series as well. 

⚡ Only in the Express

In an interview with The Indian Express, former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan said the successful Moon landing shows  that India is at the cutting edge of space technologies and can never again be at the receiving end of a technology denial regime, as happened in the past.

📰 From the Front Page 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who watched the landing from South Africa, where he is attending the BRICS summit, called the success of the mission the “victory cry of a developed India”. He said all countries, including from the Global South, can now “aspire for the Moon and beyond”.

👩‍💻 Must Read 

In today’s Opinion section, Shyam Saran writes on how Chandrayaan-3 may be seen in the world: “This outstanding achievement may be difficult to ignore by the likes of China, who have long avoided treating India as an equal.”

After rolling down a ramp from the Chandrayaan-3 lander, the six-wheel, 26-kg rover, which is capable of slowly moving up to 500 metres, will begin its job of lunar exploration. Here’s a look at the experiments that the mission has on board.

⌛ And Finally 

The Indian Express interviewed three prominent entrepreneurs in space technologies – Srinath Ravichandran of Agnikul Cosmos, Prateep Basu of Satsure, and Pawan Kumar Chandana of Skyroot – to understand what Chandrayaan-3 means for their own future, and how do they intend to contribute to ISRO’s space programme in the future. Read here🎧 In the latest episode of the 3 Things podcast, we discuss India’s historic moon mission Chandrayaan 3, Jadavpur University ragging case and laws about vehicles bearing caste stickers.

Until next time,

Rahel Philipose and Anamni Gupta