India hoping to be fourth country to reach Moon after Chandrayaan-3 launch

India is looking to become the world’s fourth country to complete a controlled landing on the surface of the Moon following the successful launch of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.

With cheering crowds waving Indian flags and colourful umbrellas, Chandrayaan – which means “Moon vehicle” in Sanskrit – took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

“It is indeed a moment of glory for India”, Jitendra Singh, India’s science and technology minister, said in a speech after the launch, “and a moment of destiny for all of us over here at Sriharikota who are part of the history in the making”.

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If Chandrayaan-3 is able to successfully set its lander Vikram on the Moon’s surface in August, India “will become the first country to land near its little-explored south pole”, said the BBC.

This is an area that remains in the shadow and is much larger than that of Moon’s north pole and “scientists say there is a much greater possibility of finding water in this region”, the broadcaster added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently visiting France, tweeted that the mission “scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey”. “It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.”

Chandrayaan-3 is “largely a do-over”, said The New York Times after the country’s first attempt mission in 2020 successfully deployed an orbiter “but its lander and rover were destroyed in a crash near where the Chandrayaan-3 will attempt a touchdown”, added Al Jazeera.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is taking place “amid renewed interest in exploring the Moon”, said The New York Times. The United States and China are both aiming to send astronauts there in the coming years, and “a half dozen robotic missions from Russia, Japan and the United States could head there this year and next”, the paper added.