India launched Chandrayaan-3, the first mission to land near the Moon’s south pole.
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched Chandrayaan-3 on 14 July 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Its lander, Vikram, made a successful soft landing on 23 August 2023, and its rover, Pragyan, then travelled across the lunar surface. The landing site was named Shiv Shakti Point.
The mission followed Chandrayaan-2, whose lander lost communication during its attempted landing in 2019. Chandrayaan-3 was designed as a technology demonstration, with a lander, rover and propulsion module. It carried instruments to study the local lunar surface and the environment around the landing site.
The Moon’s south-polar region is scientifically important because permanently shadowed craters may preserve water ice. Chandrayaan-3 made India the fourth country to achieve a controlled lunar landing, after the Soviet Union, the United States and China. It was the first successful landing near the lunar south polar region.