Chandrayaan: Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon on 23 August last year. The central government decided to celebrate 23 August every year as ‘National Space Day’ from this year. Union Minister of State for Space Dr. Jitendra Singh described Chandrayaan-3 as an important achievement and said that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has started preparing for two more lunar missions (Chandrayaan 4 and 5).
Speaking to the media on the occasion of the curtain raiser of the first Space Day, Dr Singh said, Chandrayaan-3 was a major achievement and now Chandrayaan-4 and 5 will be launched. A year ago, India became the fourth country in the world to land a spacecraft on the Moon and the first to land on its South Pole region.
Know about Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 missions
After the success of Chandrayaan-3, India is preparing for Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 missions. Chandrayaan-4 aims to bring back important samples from the moon. While Chandrayaan-5, in collaboration with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), will explore the shadowed areas of the moon.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath said on Tuesday that the space agency has completed the design for the next phase of lunar missions – Chandrayaan 4 and 5 – and is in the process of getting government approval in this regard. The Chandrayaan-4 mission includes bringing back rocks and soil from the Earth’s satellite after landing the equipment smoothly on the surface of the moon, launching a spacecraft from the moon, performing space ‘docking’ experiments in lunar orbit and bringing back samples.
ISRO may release pictures
On the occasion of ‘National Space Day’ on August 23, ISRO may release some pictures related to Chandrayaan-3 mission. However, some pictures of Chandrayaan-3 mission and moon’s surface have been posted on the social media platform X from the handle named @ISROSpaceflight. However, no official statement has been given by ISRO.
India’s ‘Moon Mission’
ISRO officials had said that the targeted launch year for the Chandrayaan-4 mission is 2028. ISRO Chairman S Somnath also said that the space agency plans to launch 70 satellites in the next five years, including a constellation of satellites for low Earth orbit to meet the requirements of various ministries and departments of the government.
He said these 70 satellites include four satellites for the ‘Navik’ regional navigation system which will provide position determination, direction information services. Also, INSAT 4D weather satellites, Resourcesat series satellites, Cartosat satellites for remote sensing and high resolution imaging are included.