PM Modi in Bangalore live updates: 2 of 3 mission objectives complete, says Isro

In 2019, India attempted to land a spacecraft on the Moon - and ended up painting a kilometres-long streak of debris on its barren surface. Now the Indian Space Research Organisation has returned in triumph, with the Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully touching down near the south pole of Earth's rocky neighbour. India's success came just days after a spectacular Russian failure when the Luna 25 mission tried to land nearby and "ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface".

Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, lauded India's tech capabilities and its role in spearheading digitization, during a dialogue in New Delhi with Andrew Staples, Editorial Director from the Economist Impact. Highlighting India's technological prowess, Rajeev Chandrasekhar pointed to Chandrayaan 3 as evidence of the nation's ability to execute deep-tech successfully. He emphasized India's growing potential in fostering inclusivity through technology, stating, "This is an exciting time for India's tech space as we are building deep tech capabilities, no one would have thought that we would be at this stage."

Describing India's successful lunar mission as a "historic achievement" for both India and the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and the two leaders agreed to advance cooperation in the technology sector, especially artificial intelligence. Netanyahu spoke to Modi on Thursday and congratulated him on the Indian achievement of successfully landing a spacecraft on the South Pole of the Moon, a press statement here said.

Congratulating India, Sri Lankan Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said that the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon "is a remarkable milestone for the advancement of lunar science and exploration.” Premadasa, in Lankan Parliament, noted that the mission, launched on July 14, reached the Moon's South Pole, making India the sole nation to achieve such a feat.

A day after the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon's South Pole, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced that it will felicitate the chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and 500 other scientists in Bengaluru. He spoke to the media after visiting Isro, this morning and said, "The achievement of Isro has made the whole world take note of India. The safe landing of the Vikram lander on the moon is a historic achievement." He further said that the Government will honour the Isro scientists by organizing a special program at the Banquet hall, Vidhana Soudha.

After concluding his two-nation visit today, from Greece Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head straight to Bengaluru, Karnataka on a pre-scheduled visit. He will meet scientists of the Isro team involved in the Chandrayaan-3 Mission. After a 40-day journey into space, the Chandrayaan-3 lander, 'Vikram', touched down on the uncharted lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to do so. Moreover, the Prime Minister joined the live telecast of Chandrayaan-3 landing online from South Africa.

In some ways, the interest in the Moon is driven by similar goals as in the first space race in the 1960s – demonstrating technological capabilities and inspiring young people and the general public. However, this time it’s not just two superpowers competing in a race. Now we have many participants, and while there is still a competitive element, there is also an opportunity for cooperation and forging new international partnerships to explore space.

Over the last few decades, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of nations involved in space activity. This is very apparent when it comes to satellites that collect imagery or data about the Earth, for example. More than 60 nations have been involved in these types of satellite missions. Now we’re seeing this trend expand to space exploration, and particularly the Moon.

Eventually, the Moon may provide economic benefits based on the natural resources that can be found there, such as water, helium-3 and rare Earth elements.

There are some people who also believe that exploration of the Moon can provide economic benefits. In the near term, this might include the emergence of startup companies working on space technology and contributing to these missions. India has seen a surge in space startups recently.

The fact that so many nations – the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel – and even commercial entities are interested in landing on the Moon means that there are many opportunities to forge new partnerships. These partnerships can allow nations to do more in space by pooling resources, and they encourage more peaceful cooperation here on Earth by connecting individual researchers and organizations.

Countries are interested in going to the Moon because it can inspire people, test the limits of human technical capabilities and allow us to discover more about our solar system. The Moon has a historical and cultural significance that really seems to resonate with people – anyone in the world can look up at the night sky, see the Moon and understand how amazing it is that a spacecraft built by humans is roaming around the surface. The Moon also presents a unique opportunity to engage in both international cooperation and competition in a peaceful, but highly visible, way.