Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon on August 23 last year. The Indian government has decided to observe August 23 as ‘National Space Day’ from this year. Union Minister of State for Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, highlighted Chandrayaan-3 as a significant achievement and announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing for two more moon missions, Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5.
During a media briefing marking the first Space Day, Dr. Singh mentioned that after the success of Chandrayaan-3, ISRO is focusing on the next missions. India became the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to land on its southern pole.
Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 Missions
Chandrayaan-4 aims to bring back important samples from the moon, while Chandrayaan-5, in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will explore the moon’s shadowed regions.
ISRO Chairman S. Somnath stated that the designs for Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 are complete, and they are in the process of seeking government approval. Chandrayaan-4 will involve landing equipment on the moon’s surface, bringing lunar rocks and soil to Earth, launching a spacecraft from the moon, demonstrating space ‘docking’ in lunar orbit, and returning samples.
Possible Pictures from Chandrayaan-3
On August 23, National Space Day, ISRO might release some images related to the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Although some pictures of Chandrayaan-3 and the moon’s surface have been posted on social media by the handle @ISROSpaceflight, no official statement from ISRO has been made yet.
India’s Moon Mission Plans
ISRO officials have mentioned that the targeted launch year for Chandrayaan-4 is 2028. Chairman S. Somnath also revealed that ISRO plans to launch 70 satellites in the next five years. These will include satellites for Earth’s lower orbit to meet the needs of various government ministries and departments.
Among the 70 satellites, there will be four for the ‘NavIC’ regional navigation system providing positioning and direction services, the INSAT-4D weather satellite, satellites from the Resourcesat series, and Cartosat satellites for remote sensing and high-resolution imaging.
