Chandrayaan-3, scheduled to be launched from Sriharikota this week, will make India the fourth country to land its Spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. Stating this here today in an exclusive interview to a news agency, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent USA visit was marked by significant Space related agreements indicating that the countries which had started their Space journey long before India are today looking up to India as an equal collaborator. After such a quantum rise in our Space expertise under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, India can no longer wait to be left behind in its march to the Moon, the Minister said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission of Chandrayaan-2 and is aimed to demonstrate India’s capability in soft landing and roving on the surface of the Moon or the Lunar surface. The complex mission profile, he said, required for the Spacecraft to enter the Moon’s orbit has been executed very precisely. After the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the Moon, the rover, which has six wheels, will come out and is expected to work for 14 days on the Moon. With the support of multiple cameras on the rover, we will be able to receive images, he said.
Giving full credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing an enabling environment for Space workers and taking path-breaking decisions, like unlocking the Space sector for Public Private Partnership (PPP), Dr Jitendra Singh said, based on the current trajectory of growth, India’s space sector could be a 1 Trillion US Dollar economy in the coming years. Elaborating further, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the primary objectives of Chandrayaan-3 mission are threefold, a) to demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface b) to demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and c) to conduct in-situ scientific experiments. The Minister recalled that the first in the series of Chandrayaan, namely Chandrayaan-1, is credited for having discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon, which was a new revelation for the world and even the most premier Space agencies like the USA’s NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) were fascinated by this discovery and used the inputs for their further experiments. Chandrayyan-3, he said, will be operating at the next level. The Spacecraft will use Launch Vehicle Mark-3 developed by ISRO for its launch, he added.
