The story so far: At 6.03 pm IST on August 23, the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the moon’s surface, in the south polar region. The landing followed a 19-minute sequence in which the spacecraft used its engines, thrusters, and a suite of sensors to guide itself from an altitude of around 30 km and a speed of 1.7 km/s down to the ground. The success made India the fourth country to have soft-landed a robotic instrument on the moon and the first to have done so in the moon’s south polar region. This elite stature also boosts other countries’ confidence in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which built, launched, and now operates the Chandrayaan-3 instruments – as well as raises expectations.
What is ISRO up to?
ISRO’s activities span conducting research, developing satellite systems, working with autonomous bodies, producing rockets (from working with vendors who supply various components to design, testing, integration, and launch), maintaining satellite-tracking infrastructure, operating existing satellites, mitigating orbital debris, etc. It is also a large organisation and needs to cater to the needs of its staff.
