There will be a small race to land on the Moon in the next few weeks. The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 vehicle is expected to land on the Moon’s South Pole between August 23 and August 24. And this week, Roscosmos announced that the much-delayed Luna 25 will launch these days, and its grueling flight schedule could get it to the Moon at roughly the same time as the Indian spacecraft.
Both spacecraft aim to land in the South Pole region of the Moon. Future Chinese missions and the Artemis program, which will take humans back to the Moon, are targeting the same region. The most exciting feature of this region is the presence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters. Water, which is a very valuable resource on Earth, has an even greater importance on the Moon.
Race to the Moon: India and Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July and entered lunar orbit on 5 August. This is ISRO’s third successful orbital deployment after previous Chandrayaan missions. They are now planning the release phase of the probe, which will descend to the ground. A safe landing on the moon is not easy. The system that will land on the surface will consist of landing and traveling vehicles.
Chandrayaan-3 was crashed on July 14Having failed to land on the Moon before, ISRO has a good track record of both orbiting around Mars with its Mangalayaan mission capturing spectacular images of the Red Planet, and orbiting our natural satellite. Also noteworthy is the relatively low cost of ISRO’s approach. Chandrayaan-3’s budget was just $74.6 million.
Race to the Moon: Russia and Luna 25
Luna 25, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. The mission is seen as an indirect successor to Luna 24, the sample retrieval mission that took place in 1976 during the Soviet Union era. Luna 25 was first proposed in the 1990s and was modified and delayed due to the failure of the Phobos-Grunt mission, as well as unsuccessful attempts to cooperate with the Japanese Space Agency and ISRO.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, cooperation with other international partners was also terminated. These facts have caused many to doubt that the mission can be launched, but Russia this week announced that the mission will continue. The vehicle is expected to travel to the Moon for 5 days and then stay in orbit for up to a week before the lander lands on the surface.
Who will win the race?
If this plan goes smoothly, Russia could get some lead in the downhill race and land before India’s mission on 23 August.
However, the main goal of both countries is not to get there first, but to get there in one piece. Landing missions are always challenging and unexpected situations can occur. We will see together how the race develops in the coming days.
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