India’s Moon Mission: The autonomous Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 has been on its way to the moon since mid-July. It took off from the main spaceport in the state of Andra Pradesh on July 14. The Indian space program Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to put the rocket on the south pole of the moon. If successful, it will be the first landing of human-delivered objects at the lunar south pole. There craters with water ice are suspected. India is still an emerging country. If the state were able to land on the moon, like the superpower USA before it, it would be “very important for national self-confidence,” says SRF South Asia correspondent Maren Peters.
Mission status: So far, everything is going according to plan on this lunar mission. The lunar vehicle is scheduled to touch down on Wednesday afternoon. The Isro wanted to land on the moon four years ago, but this mission suffered a crash landing. The Russian space program also failed due to the soft landing on the earth’s satellite, only four days ago a research aircraft crashed on the moon’s surface.
What does India want on the moon? “India wants to prove that it is capable of landing a space shuttle safely and smoothly,” says Peters. So far, only the USA, the Soviet Union and China have succeeded in doing so. India then wants to drive a lunar vehicle around on the surface and take lots of photos. One goal is to investigate the seismic activity – possible moonquakes – says Peters. At some point, India also wants to put people on the moon, so it is important that the landing is successful.
Economic aspects: The country wants to sell satellite communications in the future and – like the USA – pave the way for the private sector into space. “In terms of security policy, India is planning to develop its own regional navigation system in order to become more independent of the US GPS system,” says Peters.
Criticism: There is also isolated criticism of the moon program, because in India millions of people still live in abject poverty, but this criticism is lost in the media reports.