BENGALURU, INDIA — The Indian Space Research Organization on Tuesday announced plans for a third lunar mission called Chandrayaan-3 and said it is most likely to be launched later this year, according to the Times of India.<br /><br />Speaking at a press conference, the space agency's chairperson K Sivan explained that the spacecraft's configuration will be similar to its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2.<br /><br />According to AFP, he said the agency will build a new propulsion module, lander and surface rover for the mission.<br /><br />Sivan told the Times of India the mission will cut costs by reusing the same orbiter from India's second lunar mission as it is already orbiting the moon.<br /><br />The aim is to land the spacecraft on the moon's south pole, the same area that the Chandrayaan-2 tried to land in but failed to do so in September of 2019.<br /><br />If the mission is successful, this would make India the fourth nation to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.<br /><br />India's second moon mission failed as the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft had a hard landing on the moon's south pole and lost communication with Indian spacecraft operators.<br /><br />The mission was aimed at searching for water and minerals on the moon as well as measuring moonquakes.<br /><br />Sivan said the Indian space agency plans to launch at least 25 space missions this year as part of India's plans to become a low-cost space power.
