Chandrayaan programme

Chandrayaan programme
Candrayāna Abhiyāna
LVM3 M4 lifting off with Chandrayaan-3 on 14 July 2023
Program overview
CountryIndia
OrganisationISRO
PurposeExploration of the Moon
StatusActive
Programme history
Cost1,980 crore (US$230 million)
Duration2003–present
First flightChandrayaan-1, 22 October 2008 (2008-10-22)
Last flightChandrayaan-3, 14 July 2023 (2023-07-14)
Successes2
Failures0
Partial failures1 (Chandrayaan-2)
Launch site(s)Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Vehicle information
Vehicle type
  • Satellites
  • Uncrewed lander
  • Rover
  • Propulsion module
Uncrewed vehicle(s)
  • Chandrayaan orbiters
  • Vikram
  • Pragyan
Launch vehicle(s)

The Chandrayaan programme (/ˌʌndrəˈjɑːn/ CHUN-drə-YAHN) (Sanskrit: Candra 'Moon', Yāna 'Craft, Vehicle', pronunciation) also known as the Indian Lunar Exploration Programme is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the exploration of the Moon. The program incorporates a lunar orbiter, an impactor, a soft lander and a rover spacecraft.

There have been three missions so far with a total of two orbiters, landers and rovers each. While the two orbiters were successful, the first lander and rover which were part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, crashed on the surface. The second lander and rover mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon on 23 August 2023, making India the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft in the lunar south pole region, and the fourth country to soft land on the Moon after the Soviet Union, the United States and China.