Bengaluru: India’s space agency is making final preparations for the launch of a rocket that will attempt to land a robotic rover on the moon’s south pole, which would be a first in space exploration.
If successful, India will join the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China as the only countries to have managed a controlled lunar landing.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will also be the first to land at the lunar south pole, an area of great interest due to the presence of water ice that could support a future space station.
The rocket is scheduled to blast off from India’s main spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh at 2:35 p.m. (0905 GMT).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed the mission readiness and completed the necessary fueling and propellant filling.
A team of ISRO scientists visited a temple in southern India to seek blessings for the Chandrayaan-3 launch.
In 2020, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander and rover were destroyed in a crash near the expected touchdown site for Chandrayaan-3.
If all goes according to plan, the Chandrayaan-3 launch rocket will send the spacecraft into an elliptical Earth orbit before it heads towards the moon for a scheduled landing around Aug. 23.
Chandrayaan, meaning “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, includes a 2-meter-tall lander that will deploy a rover near the lunar south pole for two weeks of experiments.
This mission is India’s first major undertaking since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government introduced policies to promote investment in space launches and related satellite-based businesses.
Since the opening of private launches in 2020, the number of space startups in India has more than doubled, with companies like Skyroot Aerospace launching India’s first privately built rocket.
“Joining a billion Indians in wishing great luck for #Chandrayaan3 mission!” tweeted Skyroot co-founder Pawan Chandana.
Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Jamie Freed