The race to the moon is heating up.

India's Chandrayaan-3 mission

Chandrayaan-3 means "moon spacecraft" in Sanskrit, according to the science news site Phys.org . The spacecraft was launched to land on the moon, following India's successful launch of a lunar probe into orbit in 2008 and its failed moon landing attempt in 2019.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission launched in mid-July and orbited the Earth multiple times to achieve the necessary speed for its journey. The spacecraft released the Vikram lander onto the moon's south pole on August 23, making India the first nation to successfully land in this region.

The Vikram lunar lander on the surface of the moon.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

This mission is the latest milestone in an ambitious yet relatively inexpensive space program that helped India become the first Asian nation to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars in 2014.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (SRO) also plans to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth orbit in 2024.

Indian rover begins lunar exploration after historic successful landing.

Russia's moon mission

The launch of the Luna-25 lunar lander on August 11th was Russia's first mission in nearly 50 years and marked the beginning of Moscow's new lunar project. The lander was set to land on the lunar surface and remain there for a year to collect samples and analyze the soil.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying Luna-25 was launched from the Amur region of Russia in August.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced on August 16 that the lander had been successfully launched into lunar orbit, but three days later it "died after a collision with the lunar surface."

Russian President Vladimir Putin is working to strengthen space cooperation with China after relations with the West further deteriorated following Moscow's military operation in Ukraine in 2022, according to Phys.org .

Russia's Luna-25 probe crashed into the moon.

China's Great Leap Forward

China is pursuing plans to send a crew to the moon by 2030 and build a base there. The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars in its space program in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia.

China became the third nation to send humans into orbit in 2003, and the Tiangong space station is considered the "jewel in the crown" of its space program. In addition, China has also successfully landed rovers on Mars and the Moon.

Simulation of a Chinese base on the moon.

CGTN SCREENSHOT

China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe landed on the far side of the moon in 2019. A year later, China became the second country to plant its flag on the moon with the Chang'e-5 mission. That lunar landing brought back soil and rock samples to Earth, the first time this had been done in over four decades.

In 2023, China announced plans for an international collaborative lunar exploration program. It invited countries to participate in the Chang'e-8 mission, scheduled for 2028. Azerbaijan announced its participation in China's international lunar research station program, which was initiated in 2021 with Russia. According to a joint statement, China and Azerbaijan will cooperate extensively in the program, including the installation of scientific equipment, personnel training, and scientific and technological testing.

Artemis – NASA's new lunar mission: Why is it important?

NASA's Artemis

NASA's Artemis 3 mission is expected to return humans to the moon in 2025.

Under the Artemis program, NASA is planning a series of increasingly complex missions to return to the moon and establish a long-term presence, with the goal of developing and testing technologies for a subsequent journey to Mars.

Artemis 1 launched an unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon in 2022. Artemis 2, scheduled for November 2024, will do the same with a crew on board.

SpaceX launched Starship from its base in Boca Chica, Texas (USA) on November 18.

NASA views the moon as a potential stopover point for missions to Mars and has signed an agreement with Finnish mobile operator Nokia to establish a 4G network there.

However, there are doubts that the Artemis 3 mission may not land humans on the moon. That will depend on whether the key components are completed on schedule.

Elon Musk's SpaceX company has won a contract to supply a lunar landing system based on the Starship prototype, but the system is not yet ready.

In 2023, SpaceX conducted two test launches of Starship, both ending in explosions, with the second launch lasting longer than the first.

New players

Simulation of the SLIM spacecraft landing on the lunar surface.

Recent technological advancements have reduced the cost of space missions and paved the way for new players in both the public and private sectors to participate. However, getting to the moon is not an easy task.

The Israeli non-profit SpaceIL launched the Beresheet lunar lander in 2019, but it crashed. In April 2023, the Japanese company ispace became the latest to attempt and fail in a historic effort to send a private lunar lander to the moon.

What does Japan expect from the "Lunar Shooter" probe?

In September, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched its Solar Illumination Module (SLIM) into orbit and is expected to land on the moon in January or February 2024 if all goes well. Two American companies, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, also had planned launches but were postponed to around early 2024.

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