Can India become the world's number one?, To make a soft landing at the South Pole of the Moon, "Moonship 3" will be launched into space. "Moonship 3" | Indian Lunar Exploration

On the afternoon of the 14th local time, at the Sadish Dawan Space Launch Center located on the island of Srihrigoda in southern Andhra Pradesh, India, with the launch vehicle LVM3 departing from the launch pad, the "Lunar 3" successfully took off.

This is India's second "expedition" after four years, following the failure of its last lunar mission.

If successful, India will become the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China, and will also be the first country in the world to achieve a soft landing near the south pole of the moon.

A historic launch

The launch of "Lungshan-3" is India's third lunar exploration mission and its second attempt at a soft landing on the lunar surface. Considered a "historic" launch by the Indian Space Research Organization.

The Lunar 3 was developed by ISRO and consists of a lander, a propulsion module, and a lunar rover.

According to the head of ISRO, Somanat, "Moonship 3" weighs 3.9 tons and costs approximately 6.1 billion rupees.

If everything goes smoothly, the lunar rover "Luna 3" will enter lunar orbit in approximately 15 to 20 days and finally arrive on August 23 or 24.

The main objectives of this lunar exploration mission are to ensure a soft landing on the lunar surface. Secondly, after landing, the lunar rover can move and operate normally. Thirdly, conduct scientific observations on site. This includes collecting data and conducting a series of scientific experiments to gain a better understanding of the composition of the moon.

"The lunar rover carries five instruments, with a focus on understanding the physical characteristics of the lunar surface, the atmosphere close to the lunar surface, and studying the tectonic activities below the lunar surface. I hope we can find some new things," said Somanat.

According to ISRO, the lunar rover is equipped with a laser induced breakdown spectrometer and an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to study the chemical composition of the lunar surface.

The ability to achieve a soft landing is the biggest highlight and challenge of this lunar exploration mission. But once successful, it will bring great glory to India.

India will not only join the "Space Elite Club" and become the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China, but also the world's first country to achieve a soft landing near the South Pole of the Moon.

Why is the challenge coefficient of lunar soft landing so high?

Amitaba Gosh, a scientist for NASA's Mars program, explained in an interview with The Indian Express:

"Imagine a spacecraft originally flying in space at a speed of 10 times that of an airplane, but in order to land lightly on Earth, it had to almost come to a stop - all within a few minutes. More importantly, there was no human intervention. In short, this is a soft landing."

Moreover, the lunar rover "Moonship 3" plans to land near the South Pole of the Moon, which poses a higher risk than landing in other areas of the lunar surface.

Most of the South Pole of the Moon has not yet been explored, and its shaded area is much larger than the North Pole of the Moon. The terrain is complex and extremely challenging.

"We have been able to reach the equatorial region of the moon where we can safely land and have obtained a large amount of data," Somanat said. "If we want to make significant scientific discoveries, we must go to new areas such as Antarctica, but the landing risk there is higher."

Persistently exploring the moon three times

It is not easy to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface, and India can be said to have tasted it all.

"Moonship 3" is the third lunar exploration program implemented by India.

The first lunar exploration mission can be traced back to 2008. At that time, the lunar spacecraft "Lungshan-1" was orbiting the moon. One of its lunar impact probes was separated and collided with the lunar surface in a controlled manner, discovering water near the south pole of the moon.

In 2019, the second lunar exploration program was launched - the launch of "Lungshan-2" to explore the South Pole of the Moon. The second lunar exploration only achieved partial success. Although the orbiter successfully entered lunar orbit, the lander and rover crashed, failing to achieve a soft landing.

Milswamy Annadole, the director of the Moon Ship 1 project, said that it was because the braking system malfunctioned at the last moment.

This expedition of "Luna 3" is seen as a successor to "Luna 2" and a further attempt to achieve a soft landing near the South Pole of the Moon.

After the failure of "Moonship 2", ISRO improved the software and hardware of "Moonship 3", especially the lander and thruster.

ISRO has developed an improved soft landing sequence, which includes four thruster engines, stronger legs, larger solar panels, and will carry more fuel.

Somanat said they carefully studied the data of the lunar lander crash and a large number of high-resolution images of the landing site, and conducted simulation exercises to repair the malfunction. "We know how many boulders and craters there are, and we have expanded the landing range to increase the likelihood of a successful landing."

Expected to unveil the veil of the South Pole of the Moon

In the past, lunar exploration missions generally chose to land in low latitude areas of the moon. If the lunar rover "Luna 3" can successfully land at the south pole of the moon, it is expected to unveil the mystery of the south pole of the moon for the world.

ISRO stated that the South Pole of the Moon is fascinating because some areas are in shadow, which increases the possibility of first sampling of ice on the Moon. In addition, there may be clues to how the early solar system formed in the large craters near the South Pole of the Moon.

The instruments equipped on the lunar lander "Lungshan-3" will be used to measure the ion and electron density near the lunar surface and their changes over time, measure lunar surface temperature, observe lunar earthquakes, and study the dynamics of the lunar system. Lunar Ship 3 will also conduct its first analysis of the lunar polar environment.

"The Lunar Module 3 can provide a completely new close-up shot of the lunar region," said Mark Norman, a planetary geochemist at the Australian National University.

Thomas Horozensky, a researcher at the European Space Policy Research Institute, stated that the Lunar 3 mission is seen as a crucial step towards manned and robotic operations on the lunar surface in the future, which will help achieve the goal of long-term human presence on the moon and other planets.

Showcasing Modi's Space Ambition

In addition to bringing scientific value to the exploration of the moon and space, the success of the Lunar 3 mission will also bring considerable commercial value to the Indian aerospace industry.

The lunar ship 3 is seen as the first major mission carried out by the Modi government since announcing policies in 2020 to encourage private space launches and satellite business investment.

Modi's ambition is to increase India's share in the global private space launch market five times from 2% in 2020 within the next decade.

Ajay Lalle, Senior Researcher at the Manohar Parikal Institute for Defense Analysis in India, stated that the success of this mission will not only enhance India's global status, but also bring indirect benefits to the commercial prospects of the private aerospace industry.

The Guardian quoted analysts as saying that this launch also carries another task: indicating India's open attitude towards private enterprises accelerating their entry into the space industry.

With rapid development and innovative accumulation, aerospace technology has become one of the most favored industries for investors in India.

Since 2020, the number of Indian space startups has more than doubled.

In recent years, India has consolidated its position as a leading supplier in the commercial aerospace industry.

Last November, India launched its first privately developed rocket, the Vikram-S. Its investors include Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC.

India has also been trying to monopolize the market for launching small satellites.

In October last year and March this year, India twice used its own rocket to launch dozens of communication satellites from British satellite company One Network into orbit.

Scientific American also mentioned that India's investment in lunar exploration continues to grow, with most of it planned for domestic research and development.

India also actively participates in international cooperation, such as joining NASA's Artemis Agreement, becoming the 27th signatory country.

In addition to lunar exploration, the Modi government also has ambitious ambitions such as exploring Mars, Venus, and building its own independent space station.

"India regards space as a strategic asset with the goal of becoming one of the main participants in the outer space field. This could be an opportunity for India to become a pioneer in the industry," said Kara Filotiko, Managing Director of SpaceTec Partners, a consulting firm.