Space industry, academicians hail India’s historic moon landing

The space industry leaders on Wednesday hailed the historic feat as India made the successful touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the south pole of the Moon surface.

The lander landed near the South Pole of the moon after travelling about 3.84 lakh km for over 40 days.

The Indian Space Association (ISpA) said that this significant accomplishment underscores the increasing accessibility of space and showcases India's unwavering determination and persistence in accomplishing challenging space missions. 

“Moreover, it augurs positively for India's engagement in the emerging lunar exploration era aimed at establishing enduring structures on the Moon,” said the association.

Initiated on July 14, 2023, from Sriharikota, the Chandrayaan-3 mission comprises the key components of the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover. 

While this is ISRO's mission, many other private companies have contributed towards the goal, like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Walchandnagar Industries, Centum Electronics, Godrej & Boyce and Ananth Technologies.

“The successful landing shows the potential of the Indian space sector and places India among the very few nations in the whole world who have achieved this feat. It is also a harbinger of the exciting opportunities that it brings for private players,” said Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), Director General, Indian Space Association.

Dr Subba Rao Pavuluri, Founder and CMD of Ananth Technologies (ATL) expressed gratitude to ISRO for the opportunity given to them to manufacture several mission-critical systems for Chandrayaan-3 programme. 

Headquartered in Hyderabad, the company has been contributing to all the launch vehicle and satellite missions of ISRO. 

ATL played a crucial role in the Chandrayaan-3 launch vehicle (LVM3) by participating in the manufacturing of numerous avionics packages for this mission. 

“We are well-prepared to make significant advancements in India's space sector initiatives and other strategic programmes. ATL is poised to play a pivotal role as a partner in the nation's aspiration to achieve self-reliance,” Pavuluri said.

Somak Raychaudhury, Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University, said that it is a crowning achievement for all Indians. 

“Chandrayaan-3 is the culmination of decades of relentless pursuit of excellence by our scientists, and, at the same time, it is a stepping stone for our country’s ambitious space exploration programmes,” Raychaudhury said. 

“With the new space policy, upcoming missions such as Aditya-L1, Gaganyaan and future missions to Mars and beyond, we are preparing for the hitherto unexplored frontiers of space,” he added.