On 3 February, 2022 Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled for launch in August 2022.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Dr Jitendra Singh said, based on the learnings from Chandrayaan-2 and suggestions made by the national level experts, the realization of Chandrayaan-3 is in progress. Many related hardware and their special tests are successfully completed and the Launch is scheduled for August 2022.
The Minister informed that the number of missions planned during 2022 (Jan to Dec’22) are 19 viz., 08 Launch Vehicle Missions, 07 Spacecraft Missions and 04 Technology Demonstrator Missions.
Several ongoing missions were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, reprioritization of projects has taken place in the back drop of Space Sector reforms and newly introduced demand driven models. The following missions were realized in last 3 years.
Chandrayaan-2
Chandrayaan-2 mission is a highly complex mission, which represents a significant technological leap compared to the previous missions of ISRO, which brought together an Orbiter, Lander and Rover with the goal of exploring south pole of the Moon. This is a unique mission which aims at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface of the moon in a single mission.
Why did we go to the Moon?
The Moon is the closest cosmic body at which space discovery can be attempted and documented. It is also a promising test bed to demonstrate technologies required for deep-space missions. Chandrayaan-2 aims for enhancing our understanding of the Moon, stimulate the advancement of technology, promote global alliances and inspire a future generation of explorers and scientists.