Key Space Missions in Depth

5.1 Chandrayaan Programme

Chandrayaan-1 (2008–2009)

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first Moon mission, launched by PSLV-C11 on 22 October 2008. It orbited the Moon for 312 days. The mission's greatest discovery was that the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) detected water ice molecules in permanently shadowed craters near the south pole (confirmed 2009) — the world's first direct evidence of water on the Moon. Communication was lost on 29 August 2009.

Chandrayaan-2 (2019)

Chandrayaan-2 was launched by GSLV-Mk III (LVM3) on 22 July 2019. The Orbiter continues to function and map the Moon. The Vikram lander lost communication during descent (2.1 km from surface) on 7 September 2019 and crash-landed — a setback that provided invaluable learning. Chandrayaan-2 orbiter data was used in planning Chandrayaan-3.

Chandrayaan-3 (2023) — India's Historic Triumph

• Launch: 14 July 2023 by LVM3-M4 from Sriharikota
• Soft landing: 23 August 2023 — Vikram lander landed at 69.37° S latitude near the lunar south pole
• India declared 23 August as National Space Day
• Pragyan rover: 6-wheeled rover operated for ~14 Earth days (one lunar day); covered ~100 m
• In-situ experiments: Confirmed sulphur on lunar south pole surface (AlphaX instrument); detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese; searched for but did not detect hydrogen
• Scientific value: Lunar south pole's permanently shadowed craters contain water ice — a crucial resource for future crewed missions, rocket fuel production, and life support

5.2 Mangalyaan — Mars Orbiter Mission

Mangalyaan set several records with its mission profile:

• Budget: Rs 450 crore (~$74 million at 2013 rates); development time: 15 months (record)
• Achievement: First Asian nation and first nation in the world to succeed on its first attempt
• Instruments: Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM — did not detect methane), Lyman-Alpha Photometer (upper atmosphere), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, Mars Colour Camera, MENCA (Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser)
• End of mission: Declared by ISRO on October 2, 2022 — battery fully depleted after running 8+ years (vs. planned 6-month mission)

5.3 Aditya-L1

Mission objective: Study the Sun — specifically the solar corona, solar wind, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar energetic particles.

Why L1 (Lagrange Point 1)? The L1 point (1.5 million km from Earth toward Sun) is a gravitationally stable point where a spacecraft can maintain a relatively stationary position relative to the Sun-Earth system. This enables uninterrupted 24/7 observation of the Sun without eclipses.

7 scientific payloads:

1. VELC (Visible Emission Line Coronagraph) — coronal imaging
2. SUIT (Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) — UV imaging
3. SoLEXS (Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer)
4. HEL1OS (High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer)
5. ASPEX (Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment)
6. PAPA (Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya)
7. MAG (Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers)

5.4 Gaganyaan Programme

India's Human Spaceflight Programme:

Component	Details
Mission profile	3 astronauts, 3-day mission, 400 km circular orbit
Launch vehicle	LVM3 with Crew Escape System (CES)
Crew module	Reusable; splashdown recovery in Bay of Bengal; 5.3 m height, 3.7 m diameter
Crew	4 selected IAF test pilots (Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan, Shubhanshu Shukla)
Training	Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, Russia (2019–2020); continued in India
TV-D1 test	October 21, 2023 — successfully tested Crew Escape System (CES) at 12 km altitude; Crew Module recovered from sea
Upcoming tests	G1 (unmanned + Vyommitra robot), G2 (unmanned), H1 (crewed)
Target	First crewed mission 2025
Post-Gaganyaan	India plans to launch Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) — India's own space station by 2035

Vyommitra is a humanoid robot developed by ISRO for unmanned Gaganyaan missions. It will perform crew activities (panel operations, switch operations, life support tasks) to validate systems before crewed missions.

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