India becomes the first nation to land on the moon’s south pole
India achieved a historic feat on Wednesday evening, when it successfully landed a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, making it the first country to do so. The Vikram lander, part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, touched down on the lunar surface at 7:31 pm IST, after a tense descent that lasted about 15 minutes. The lander carried a rover named Pragyan, which will explore the region for 14 days and conduct experiments to study the lunar soil, temperature, and radiation.
The south pole of the moon is a region of great scientific interest, as it has deep craters that are in permanent shadow and may contain water ice and other resources that could be useful for future missions. The presence of water on the moon could enable the production of oxygen, fuel, and even drinking water for astronauts and lunar bases. The south pole also offers a unique vantage point to observe the solar system and the earth.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is India’s third lunar exploration mission, following Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. The latter mission failed to land on the moon due to a technical glitch, but its orbiter is still operational and has provided valuable data and images of the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a demonstration of India’s technological prowess and scientific ambition in the field of space exploration.
India’s space tech startups celebrate the success and hope for more funding
The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 has also boosted the morale and prospects of India’s space tech startups, which have been working on various aspects of space technology and innovation for several years. India has about 140 registered space tech startups, some of which have already achieved notable milestones in their domains.
One such startup is Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based company that is building the world’s first constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites. These satellites can capture high-resolution images of the earth and extract actionable insights from them using artificial intelligence. Pixxel was founded by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal in 2019, when they were undergraduate students at BITS Pilani. They were inspired by their visit to the SpaceX factory in Los Angeles, where they participated in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition as part of Hyperloop India team.
Another startup that has made significant advances is Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based company that is developing launch vehicles for small satellites. Skyroot successfully launched India’s first privately built rocket, Vikram-S, into suborbital space in late 2020. The single-stage rocket was launched by ISRO and achieved a hypersonic velocity of Mach-5, which is five times the speed of sound. Skyroot plans to launch its first orbital rocket, Vikram-I, by 2024.
These startups are hopeful that ISRO’s success with Chandrayaan-3 will attract more private investors and government support for their ventures. They also hope to collaborate with ISRO and other space agencies in the future, as India aims to become a major player in the global space market.
India’s space exploration journey has only just begun
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is not only a historic achievement for India, but also a stepping stone for its future space endeavors. India has several ambitious plans for exploring the moon and beyond, such as:
- Gaganyaan: India’s first manned space mission, which aims to send three astronauts to low earth orbit by 2024.
- Aditya-L1: India’s first solar mission, which aims to study the sun’s corona and its impact on the earth by 2025.
- Shukrayaan-1: India’s first mission to Venus, which aims to study the planet’s atmosphere and surface by 2026.
- Mangalyaan-2: India’s second mission to Mars, which aims to land a rover on the red planet by 2028.
- Chandrayaan-4: India’s fourth mission to the moon, which aims to establish a permanent lunar base by 2030.
India’s space exploration journey has only just embarked upon its most ambitious chapter. With its scientific curiosity, technological capability, and entrepreneurial spirit, India is poised to make new discoveries and contributions to humanity’s quest for understanding the universe.
