ISRO Gearing Up for Next Lunar Mission Chandrayaan-4

ISRO chief S Somnath informed at the National Space Science Symposium (NSSS 2024) that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is preparing to launch the next lunar mission Chandrayaan-4. This mission will include five spacecraft modules.

Modules of Chandrayaan-4

• Unlike Chandrayaan-3, which had three main components, Chandrayaan-4 will consist of five main modules:
  • Propulsion Module
  • Descender Module (to land on the Moon)
  • Ascender Module (to exit the lander with samples)
  • Transfer Module (to take the ascender module out of lunar orbit)
  • Re-entry Module (to land on Earth with moon samples)

Two-Phase Launch

• The five components of the Chandrayaan-4 lunar mission will be launched in two phases.
• In the first phase, the propulsion, descender, and ascender modules will be launched, similar to the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
• In the second phase, the transfer and re-entry modules will be launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Launch Vehicles

• India’s heaviest launch vehicle, LVM-3, will launch the propulsion, descender, and ascender modules.
• The transfer and re-entry modules will be launched on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
• This will be the first ISRO mission utilizing two launch vehicles for a single mission.

Main Objectives The main objectives of the Chandrayaan-4 mission are:

• Safe and soft landing on the lunar surface
• Lunar sample collection and containerization
• Rising from the moon’s surface
• Docking and undocking in lunar orbit
• Transferring samples from one module to another
• Return and re-entry to Earth with moon samples for scientific study