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<\/div>\nChandrayaan-3 launch will take place on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bengaluru: <\/b><\/p>\n
India on Friday launches its latest attempt at an unmanned moon landing, the next frontier of a burgeoning, cut-price aerospace programme rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global superpowers.<\/p>\n
If successful, the mission would make the world’s most populous nation only the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to achieve a controlled landing on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
The latest iteration of the Chandrayaan (“Mooncraft”) programme comes four years after an earlier attempt ended in failure, with ground crew losing contact moments before landing.<\/p>\n
This time around, there is optimism that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will succeed, as it sets its sights on a future manned lunar mission.<\/p>\n
“We’re sure this one will be successful and will bring pride and recognition to everybody who has worked for it,” Anil G. Verma of Godrej & Boyce, ISRO’s principal engine and components supplier, told AFP.<\/p>\n
The 14-day mission comes with a price tag of $74.6 million, according to media reports, and aims to successfully land a rover to explore the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
A huge crowd is expected to attend the launch, scheduled for 2:35 pm local time (0905 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre north of Chennai.<\/p>\n
“I am very happy and hopeful,” K. Sivan, the ISRO chief during India’s last lunar landing attempt, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Expanding space programme<\/strong><\/p>\n India’s space programme has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the moon in 2008.<\/p>\n In 2014, it became the first Asian nation to put a satellite into orbit around Mars, and three years later, the ISRO launched 104 satellites in a single mission.<\/p>\n The ISRO’s Gaganyaan (“Skycraft”) programme is slated to launch a three-day manned mission into Earth’s orbit by next year.<\/p>\n India is also working to boost its two percent share of the global commercial space market by sending private payloads into orbit for a fraction of the cost of competitors.<\/p>\n Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing space technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts’ wages.<\/p>\n ‘Best is yet to come’<\/strong><\/p>\n Chandrayaan-2, its previous attempt at a lunar landing in 2019, cost $140 million — nearly twice Friday’s launch, but a much smaller price tag than similar ventures by other countries.<\/p>\n The mission, which coincided with the 50th anniversary year of Neil Armstrong’s first-ever moonwalk, ended in disappointment when the lander went silent just 2.1 kilometres (1.3 miles) from touchdown.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Narendra Modi, present at mission control in Bangalore, consoled glum scientists and clasped the ISRO chief in a lengthy hug, saying India was still “proud” of their efforts.<\/p>\n “In our glorious history of thousands of years, we have faced moments that may have slowed us, but they have never crushed our spirit,” he said at the time.<\/p>\n “We have bounced back again,” he added. “When it comes to our space programme, the best is yet to come.”<\/p>\n (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n