The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023, at 14:35IST from theSatish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) inSriharikota, India. It entered lunar orbit on 5 August, and touched down near thelunar south pole, at 69°S,[11] on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST (12:33UTC). With this landing, ISRO became the fourth national space agency to successfullyland on the Moon, after theSoviet space program,NASA andCNSA, and the first organization in the recorded human history to achieve a soft landing near the lunar south pole.[12]
The lander was not built to withstand the cold temperatures of the lunar night, so it was shut down at sunset over the landing site, twelve days after landing.[13][14] The orbiting propulsion module remained operational and was repurposed for scientific observations of Earth; it was shifted from lunar orbit to a high Earth orbit on 22 November 2023,[15] where it remains in service.[16]
On 22 July 2019, ISRO launchedChandrayaan-2 on board aLaunch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3)launch vehicle consisting of anorbiter, alander and arover.[17] The lander was scheduled to touch down on the lunar surface on 6 September 2019 to deploy thePragyan rover. The lander lost contact with mission control, deviated from its intended trajectory while attempting to land near the lunar south pole, and crashed.[18][19]
The lunar south pole region holds particular interest for scientific exploration. Studies show large amounts of ice there. The ice could contain solid-state compounds that would normally melt under warmer conditions elsewhere on the Moon—compounds which could provide insight into lunar, Earth, andSolar System history. Mountains and craters create unpredictable lighting that protect the ice from melting, but they also make landing there a challenging undertaking for scientific probes. For future crewed missions and outposts, the ice could also be a source of oxygen, of drinking water as well as of fuel due to its hydrogen content.[20][21]
For the first time on the lunar surface, a laser beam from NASA'sLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was broadcast on 12 December 2023, and it was reflected back by a tiny NASAretroreflector on board the Vikram lander. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the retroreflector's surface location from the moon's orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 lander'sLaser Retroreflector Array (LRA) instrument began acting as a location marker close to the lunar south pole. Through multinational cooperation, the LRA was housed on the Vikram lander. On a hemispherical support framework, it consists of eight corner-cube retroreflectors. This array enables any orbiting spacecraft equipped with appropriate instruments to use lasers ranging from different directions. The 20 gram passive optical instrument is intended to survive for several decades on the lunar surface.[24]
The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration to a 100-kilometre (62 mi) lunar orbit. It was a box-like structure with a large solar panel mounted on one side and a cylindrical mounting structure for the lander (the Intermodular Adapter Cone) on top.[26][27]
A few months after the conclusion of the lander portion of the mission, ISRO officials said that the propulsion module was equipped with tworadioisotope heating units (RHU), designed and developed byBARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre). RHUs keep spacecraft at their operational temperature using the decay ofradioactive material, to generate electricity to power heaters. Chandrayaan-3 project directorP Veeramuthuvel said ISRO may use nuclear resources to maintain instruments in future rovers. ISRO officials later said the RHUs could not be installed on Chandrayaan-3'sVikram lander andPragyan rover because it would have increased their mass. This reduced their maximum lifespan to 14Earth days, or 1lunar day.[28][29][30] On 4 December 2023, ISRO reported that the propulsion module was reinserted into an orbit around the Earth.[15] The primary objective of the reinsertion was to allowEarth observations byspectral andpolarimetric instruments.[31] It remains in operation in aHigh Earth Orbit.[16]
TheVikram lander was responsible for the soft landing on the Moon. It is also box-shaped, with four landing legs and four landing thrusters capable of producing 800newtons of thrust each. It carried the rover and had various scientific instruments to perform on-site analysis.[32][33] The lander has four variable-thrust engines withslew rate changing capabilities, unlike Chandrayaan-2's lander, which had five, with the fifth one being centrally mounted and capable only of fixed thrust. One of the main reasons for Chandrayaan-2's landing failure wasaltitude increase during the camera coasting phase. This was removed by allowing the lander to control altitude and thrust during all phases of descent. Altitude correction rate was increased from Chandrayaan-2's 10°/s to 25°/s with Chandrayaan-3. Additionally, the Chandrayaan-3 lander is equipped with alaser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) to allow measuring altitude in three directions.[34][35] The impact legs were made stronger compared to Chandrayaan-2 and instrumentation redundancy was improved. It targeted a more precise 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) landing region based on images provided by the Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) onboard Chandrayaan-2's orbiter. ISRO improved the structural rigidity, increasedpolling in instruments, increased data frequency and transmission, and added additional multiple contingency systems to improve lander survivability in the event of failure during descent and landing.[36][35]
ThePragyan rover is a six-wheeled vehicle with a mass of 26 kilograms (57 pounds). It is 917 by 750 by 397 millimetres (36.1 in × 29.5 in × 15.6 in) in size.[37] The rover is expected to take multiple measurements to support research into the composition of the lunar surface, the presence of water ice in the lunar soil, the history of lunar impacts, and the evolution of the Moon's atmosphere.[38][11]
Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) will measure thethermal conductivity and temperature of the lunar surface.
Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure theseismicity around the landing site.
Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere—Langmuir Probe (RAMBHA-LP) will estimate the near-surfaceplasma density over time.[39]
LVM3 M4, Chandrayaan-3 – Launch vehicle lifting off from the second launch pad of SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota
Chandrayaan-3 was launched aboard anLVM3-M4 rocket on 14 July 2023, at 09:05 UTC fromSatish Dhawan Space CentreSecond Launch Pad inSriharikota,Andhra Pradesh, India, entering an Earthparking orbit with a perigee of 170 km (106 mi) and an apogee of 36,500 km (22,680 mi). On 15 November 2023, the Cryogenic Upper Stage (C25) of the rocket (NORAD ID: 57321) made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere around 9:12 UTC. The impact point is predicted over theNorth Pacific Ocean and the final ground track did not pass over India.[41][42][43]
The Moon photographed by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) aboard Chandrayaan-3 lander on 15 August 2023
View from the Lander Imager Camera-1 (LI-1) on 17 August 2023 just after the separation of the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module from the Propulsion Module
Chandrayaan-3 orbital manoeuvre
Image of Chandrayaan-3 Lander as captured by OHRC camera aboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter
Chandrayaan-3 Lander on the Moon imaged by rover Pragyan 15 meters away
On 23 August 2023, as the lander approached the low point of its orbit, its four engines fired as a braking manoeuvre at 30 kilometres (19 mi) above the Moon's surface. After 11.5 minutes, the lander was 7.2 km (4.5 miles) above the surface; it maintained this altitude for about 10 seconds, then stabilized itself using eight smaller thrusters and rotated from a horizontal to a vertical position while continuing its descent.
It then used two of its four engines to slow its descent to roughly 150 metres (490 ft); it hovered there for about 30 seconds and located an optimal landing spot before continuing downward and touching down at 12:33UTC.[32][50]
A 4-metre-diameter (13 ft) crater, as photographed by the Navigation camera on board the rover
On 3 September, the rover was put into sleep mode after it had completed all of its assignments. Its batteries were charged and receiver left on, according to ISRO, in preparation for the impending lunar night.[65] "The rover's payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to Earth via the lander", the statement said. Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover were expected to operate only for one lunar daylight period, or 14 Earth days, and the on-board electronics were not designed to withstand the −120 °C (−184 °F) nighttime temperatures on the Moon.[66] On 22 September, the lander and rover missed their wake-up calls,[67][68] and by 28 September neither had responded, diminishing hopes for further surface operations.[69]
Hop experiment
Vikram fired its engines for a brief 'hop' on the lunar surface on 3 September, ascending 40 cm (16 in) off the lunar surface and translating a similar distance laterally across the surface.[70] The test demonstrated capabilities to be used in potential future sample return missions. The instruments and rover deployment ramp were retracted for the hop and redeployed afterwards.[71][72][9]
Propulsion module reinserted to orbit around Earth
The propulsion module of Chandrayaan-3 was moved out of lunar orbit to an orbit around Earth.[31][73] Although the plan was to operate SHAPE for three months in lunar orbit, it was decided to utilise over 100kg of fuel left in the PM after one month of operation to derive additional information for future lunar missions, and determine strategies for sample return missions and gravity-assisted flyby missions. ISRO's flight dynamics team had developed software to be validated through these return manoeuvres.
The first lunar bound apogee raising manoeuvre was executed on 9 October 2023 raising the apogee from 150 km to 5112 km and orbital period from 2.1 hours to 7.2 hours. TheTrans-Earth Injection was done on 13 October 2023 with a targeted orbit of ~380,000 x 180,000 km. This was followed by four lunarflyby's with the last one on 7 November 2023. The module exited lunarSOI on 10 November 2023 and had the first perigee crossing on 22 November 2023 at an altitude of about 154,000 km. The propulsion module is currently orbiting Earth with a perigee and apogee altitude that vary during its trajectory and the predicted minimum perigee altitude is 115,000 kilometres (71,000 mi), with an orbital period of nearly 13 days with 27 degree inclination. The SHAPE payload is operated whenever Earth is in its field of view, as well during special events such as the 28 October 2023solar eclipse. The SHAPE payload operations are planned to continue further.[74]
The PM made another flyby of the moon on November 6, 2025, at a distance of 3,740 km from the lunar surface, though it was outside theIDSN communication range at that time . A second, closely monitored flyby took place on November 11, 2025 at 23:18UTC, brought the module whitin 4,537 km of the Moon to conduct engineering and scientific research.These events changed the satellite's orbital parameters,shifting its inclination from 34° to 22° with the lunar plane and expanding itselliptical orbit from 100,000 x 300,000 km to 409,000 x 727,000 km.[75][76]
Propulsion module: Carries lander and rover to 100-by-100-kilometre (62 mi × 62 mi) orbit, with operation of experimental payload for up to six months but still in active service.[77]
Lander module: one lunar daylight period (14 Earth days).[77]
Rover module: one lunar daylight period (14 Earth days).[77]
In December 2019, ISRO requested the initial funding of the project, amounting to₹750crore (US$89 million), out of which₹600crore (US$71 million) would be for meeting expenditure towards machinery, equipment, and other capital expenditure, while the remaining₹150crore (US$18 million) was sought for operating expenditure.[84] Amit Sharma, CEO of an ISRO vendor, said, "With local sourcing of equipment and design elements, we are able to reduce the price considerably."[85]
Confirming the existence of the project in early 2020, ISRO's former chairmanK. Sivan stated that the estimated cost would be around₹615 crore (equivalent to₹724 crore or US$86 million in 2023).[86][87][88]
TheAssociated Press, while commenting on the success of the mission, said, "The successful mission showcases India's rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's desire to project an image of an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite."[89] About results on water existence, "There was no word on the outcome of the rover searches for signs of frozen water on the lunar surface (...)".[89]
ISRO also released data from the observations made by ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment), one of the four instruments present on the lander module. ChaSTE was designed to study the heat conductivity of the Moon's surface and measure the differences in temperatures at different points on and below the surface, with the overall objective of creating a thermal profile of the Moon.
The graph of temperature variation across the lunar topsoil at a point in the solar polar region, as measured by the ChaSTE instrument
ISRO scientist BH Darukesha said the high range of 70-degree-Celsius (158-degree-Fahrenheit) temperature near the surface was "not expected".[90]
On 29 August, ISRO reported that the laser-induced breakdown spectroscope (LIBS) instrument on board thePragyan rover has "unambiguously" confirmed the presence ofsulfur in the lunar surface near the south pole, through "first-ever in-situ measurements".[91][92] The presence of sulfur on the Moon has been known before;[93] however, it was detected for the first time at the south pole by the rover.[94]
Noah Petro, a project scientist at NASA, while speaking to theBBC, stated that while sulfur has been known to be in the lunarregolith fromApollo program samples, he describedPragyan's findings as a "tremendous accomplishment".[95]
Apart from sulfur, the rover also detected other elements including aluminium (Al), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), titanium (Ti), manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O).[96] The agency said it is also searching for hydrogen (H).[97][98]
Pragyan rover detected elements present on the Moon.
On 31 August, ISRO released plasma density data from the RAMBHA Instrument aboard theVikram lander. Initial assessments reported relatively low plasma densities above the lunar surface varying from 5 to 30 million electrons per m3. The evaluation pertains to early stages of thelunar day. The probe aims to explore the changes in the near-surface plasma environment throughout the duration of the lunar day.[99]
On the same day, ISRO released data from the ILSA payload on the lander, providing vibration measurements of the rover movement on 25 August, and a presumed natural event on 26 August. The cause of the latter event is a subject of investigation,[100] it is suspected to be amoonquake.[98]
The ChaSTE probe penetrated into the lunar soil to carryout measurements for the entire duration of the mission. ChaSTE in-situ measurements were carried out for a significant fraction of a lunar day (~8 AM - 4 PM Local time at the Moon) i.e. approximately 10 Earth days (i.e. from 24 Aug. - 2 Sept. 2023) at an interval of about a second.[101]
Temperature sensors along the arm of Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE)
In research published in March 2025, ChaSTE observations during the mission indicated that thelunar surface temperatures show a significant spatial variability at metre scales at high latitudes, unlike at the equatorial regions. These effects become prominent as we move towards poles, an important aspect that should be considered for future exploration. .The peak surface temperature at landing site was measured to be 355 K (± 0.5 K), a temperature relatively higher than ~330 K (±3K), predicted by earlier observations. This unexpected higher temperature is due to penetration of ChaSTE on the Sun-ward (equator-ward) facing surface with a slope of ~6o. Lunar surface temperature measured from a flat surface using an independent sensor, about a metre away from ChaSTE location, was found to be ~332K (±1K), which is consistent with orbiter based remote sensing observation (~330 K).[101]
By understanding how well the surface layer conducts heat and how much heat it can hold, as done by ChaSTE, scientists can figure out how heat moves around, predict temperatures below the surface, and see how sunlight interacts with the Moon. This would also help engineers to find subsurface locations with benign thermal environment and design safe places to plan future trips and live on the Moon.[101]
Chandrayaan-3's landing live stream on ISRO's officialYouTube channel received eight million concurrent viewers,[102] which is the highest in YouTube's history for a live video.[103][104]
Congratulating the ISRO team behind the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru, Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced that the touchdown point of theVikram lander would henceforth be known asStatio Shiv Shakti.[105] He further declared 23 August, the day theVikram lander landed on the Moon, asNational Space Day.[106][107]
ISRO chiefS. Somanath proclaimed "India is on the Moon" after the successful touchdown.[108] "We learnt a lot from our failure and corrected it. It's now 14 days of work and we have to conduct experiments," he toldIndia Today.[109]
P Veeramuthuvel, the project director of the mission said, "It's a great moment of happiness. On behalf of the team it gives me immense satisfaction on achieving this goal as the Project Director of the mission. The entire mission operations right from launch till landing happened flawlessly as per the timeline".[110] S. Mohana Kumar, the mission director, said that Chandrayaan-3 was a "team effort".[111]
Meanwhile, former ISRO chiefK Sivan, under whose tenure theChandrayaan-2 was launched said, "We are really excited to see this grand success. For this, we have been waiting for the last four years. This success is sweet news for us and for the entire nation."[112]
Rahul Gandhi, the leader ofIndian National Congress, also celebrated Chandrayaan-3's success, calling it a result of "tremendous ingenuity and hard work" by the country's scientific community. "Since 1962, India's space program has continued to scale new heights and inspire generations of young dreamers," he posted on X.[113]
Josef Aschbacher, director general of theEuropean Space Agency, said: "Incredible! Congratulations to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3, and to all the people of India!! What a way to demonstrate new technologies AND achieve India's first soft landing on another celestial body. Well done, I am thoroughly impressed."[115][116][117]
Abdulla Shahid, the foreign minister ofMaldives, wrote "As a South Asian nation, and neighbour, we are proud of the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3 near the moon's south pole. This is a success for all of humanity! Opening new avenues for new areas of exploration."[116]
Bill Nelson, the administrator ofNASA wrote "Congratulations ISRO on your successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing and congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We're glad to be your partner on this mission".[118][117]
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president ofSouth Africa said "This for us, as the BRICS family, is a momentous occasion and we rejoice with you. We join you in the joy of this great achievement."[115]
TheKremlin quoted Russian presidentVladimir Putin's message to Indian president Droupadi Murmu and Modi, "Please, accept my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the successful landing of the Indian space station Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon near its South Pole. This is a big step forward in space exploration and certainly a testament to the impressive progress made by India in the area of science and technology".[119]
Nepal prime ministerPushpa Kamal Dahal said "I congratulate Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and ISRO team of India on successful landing of Chandrayan-3 in the surface of the moon today and unleashing of a historic achievement in science and space technology."[116]
The Exploration Museum has bestowed upon ISRO the esteemed Leif Erikson Lunar Prize in honor of the space agency's resolute dedication and noteworthy advancements in lunar exploration in 2023.[120]
In recognition of its accomplishments with the historic Chandrayaan-3 mission in 2023, ISRO has been bestowed with the esteemedAviation Week Laureates Award. Sripriya Ranganathan, Deputy Ambassador at the Indian Embassy in the US, accepted the award on behalf of ISRO.[121]
The Chandrayaan-3 mission team has raised the bar for space exploration, and for that reason, they have been awarded the prestigious 2024 John L. 'Jack' Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration. On 8 April 2024, at the opening ceremony of the annual Space Symposium inColorado, India's Consul General D C Manjunath accepted the prize on behalf of the Indian Space Research Organization.[122]
TheInternational Astronautical Federation has presented Chandrayaan-3 with the World Space Award. The award presentation is slated to take place on October 14 inMilan, during the 75thInternational Astronautical Congress opening ceremony.[123] According to the International Astronautical Federation, Chandrayaan-3 mission by ISRO exemplifies the synergy of scientific curiosity and cost-effective engineering.[124]
^Vaniman, D.; Pettit, D.; Heiken, G. (1992)."Uses of lunar sulfur".Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century. SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): 429.Bibcode:1992lbsa.conf..429V.Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved30 August 2023.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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