"India promises to put man on the moon by 2040": Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi, Dec 15: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that Chandrayaan 3 is just a start and India promises to put a man on the moon by 2040.

"Today we are open and clear, the sector will recieve support. Chandrayaan 3 is just the start of the process, India promises to put man on the moon by 2040. Similarly, India envisions a developed country by 2047 in Amrit Kaal. Gaganyaan projects envisage demonstration of human space flight capability and India promises man on the moon by 2040," said Hardeep Singh Puri while addressing a press conference on Friday.

The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian waters. This programme will make India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) for achieving another technological milestone in space.

Chandrayaan-3's Propulsion Module took a successful detour. In another unique experiment, the Propulsion Module is brought from Lunar orbit to Earth's orbit.

Responding to the X post of ISRO about this achievement, the Prime Minister posted on X, "Congratulations @isro. Another technology milestone achieved in our future space endeavours includes our goal to send an Indian to the Moon by 2040."

In another unique experiment, like the hop experiment on the Vikram Lander, the Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 was moved from an orbit around the Moon to an orbit around Earth, said the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Ch-3's Propulsion Module (PM) takes a successful detour! In another unique experiment, the PM is brought from Lunar orbit to Earth's orbit. An orbit-raising manoeuvre and a Trans-Earth injection manoeuvre placed PM in an Earth-bound orbit," ISRO posted on X.

The primary objective of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was to demonstrate a soft landing near to lunar south polar region and perform experiments using the instruments on Vikram and Pragyaan.

The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023, on board an LVM3-M4 vehicle from SDSC, SHAR.

On August 23, Vikram Lander made its historic touchdown on the Moon and subsequently Pragyan rover was deployed. The scientific instruments in Lander and Rover were operated continuously for 1 lunar day as per the defined mission life. The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 have been completely met.