The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved Rs 2,104.06 crore for the Chandrayaan-4 mission.

It will develop and demonstrate technologies to come back to Earth after successfully landing on the Moon and also collect lunar samples and analyse them on Earth. 

Highlights of Chandrayaan-4:

• The successful demonstration of safe and soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 Lander on the lunar surface has established vital technologies and demonstrated capabilities that only few other nations possess. 

• A natural successor to Chandrayaan-3 is the demonstration of the ability to collect lunar samples and return them safely back to Earth.

• The Chandrayaan-4 will involve multiple launches, and the premier space agency is set to perform a space docking experiment later this year to develop its capabilities for the challenging endeavour.

• The Chandrayaan-4 mission will achieve the foundational technologies eventually for an Indian landing on the Moon, which is planned by the year 2040, and return safely back to Earth. 

• Major technologies that are required for docking/undocking, landing, safe return to Earth and also accomplish lunar sample collection and analysis would be demonstrated.

• ISRO will be responsible for the development of spacecraft and launch. The project will be effectively managed and monitored through the established practices prevailing at ISRO. 

• The mission is expected to be completed within 36 months of approval with the participation of industry and academia.

• All the critical technologies are envisaged to be indigenously developed. The realisation of the mission is through various industries and it is envisaged that there would be high employment potential and technology spin-off to other sectors of the economy.

• The total fund requirement for the technology demonstration mission is Rs 2104.06 crore. 

• The cost includes spacecraft development and realisation, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, external deep space network support and conducting special tests for design validation, finally leading to the mission of landing on Moon’s surface and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar samples.

India’s lunar exploration missions

• Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota to orbit the Moon. It played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.

• Chandrayaan-2 mission was India’s first attempt to land on the lunar surface. It was launched on July 22, 2019. On September 7, Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander lost its contact with ISRO as it was only 2.1 km away from its designated landing spot on the Moon’s South Pole region. The lander Vikram made a hard landing on the lunar surface.

• Chandrayaan-3 was a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. 

• The Moon’s South Pole region was chosen for the exploration because the lunar South Pole remains much larger than that at the North Pole. 

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14. 

• Post its launch, Chandrayaan-3 entered into lunar orbit on August 5.

• ISRO scripted history on August 23, 2023 as Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module touched down on the lunar surface.

• India was the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the Moon after the US, China and erstwhile Soviet Union.

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