India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission marks a significant milestone as ISRO aspires to achieve a soft landing of the Vikram Lander module on the Moon’s surface today, on August 23. If successful, India will officially become the fourth nation—following the United States, Soviet Union, and China, and notably, the first country ever to achieve a landing on the Moon’s South Pole.
Despite being ahead of most nations, ISRO has managed to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission within a record estimated budget of Rs 615 crore, approximately $75 million.
In this article, we will explore how the budget and scope of the Chandrayaan-3 mission compare to the budgets of other notable Moon missions of similar scope conducted by countries such as China, Russia and India’s past missions as well.
Comparison with Chandrayaan-2 and 1 Costs:
Chandrayaan-2, a mission akin to Chandrayaan-3 in its lunar landing objective, had a budget of Rs 978 crore—notably more than the Rs 615 crore budget of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
In contrast, Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar probe launched by ISRO in 2008, had an estimated budget of around Rs 386 crore.
Comparison with Russia’s Luna25 Mission Cost:
While there’s no official declaration by the Russian government, the estimated budget for Russia’s Luna25 mission, which crash-landed on the Moon’s surface, based on reports, could have approximately been between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,600 crore. Notably, this budget is substantially higher than the Rs 615 crore allocated for Chandrayaan 3.
Comparison with China’s Chang’e 4 Cost:
In January 2019, China’s Chang’e 4 accomplished a successful soft landing on the Moon’s far side. The craft was initially going to be a backup for Chang’e 3, but later, configured to be Chang’e 4. The exact budget for the project remains unclear, but as Government of India’s Economic Survey, China spent $11 billion in 2018 on its space sector, which was only second to the USA’s NASA at $19.5 billion. During the same year, India has spent only $1.5 billion, which is seven times less than China.
Furthermore, in the fiscal year 2022, India’s Department of Space was allocated a budget of Rs 13,700 crores, which was subsequently decreased to Rs 12,543.91 crore in the current year. This context denotes how India’s budget has consistently remained notably smaller in comparison to China’s.
Chandrayaan-3’s Final Countdown
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission launched off on July 14 on the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, starting a 41-day journey to reach and land on the lunar south pole. And, today, on August 23 at 6:04 PM, the Vikram Lander Module will attempt to successfully soft land on the surface of Moon’s South pole.
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