India launches rocket to land spacecraft on moon's south pole

[July 14, 2023]  BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's space agency launched a rocket on Friday that will attempt to land a spacecraft at the lunar south pole, an unprecedented feat that would advance India's position as a major space power.  

Indian Space Research Organization logo is seen in this illustration taken May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Television footage showed the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) LVM3 launch rocket blast off from the country's main spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, leaving behind a plume of smoke and fire.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is designed to deploy a lander and rover near the moon's south pole around Aug. 23.

Only three other space agencies - the United States, the former Soviet Union and China - have touched down a lander on the moon's surface. None have landed near the lunar south pole.

The third Chandrayaan, which means "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit, includes a 2m tall lander designed to deploy a rover near the lunar south pole, where it is expected to remain functional for two weeks running a series of experiments.

ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2020 successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander and rover were destroyed in a crash near where the Chandrayan-3 will attempt a touchdown.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Christina Fincher)

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