Chandrayaan-3, launched from Bengaluru, requires a 40-day journey to reach the Lunar South Pole. In contrast, Russia's Luna-25 is set to enter lunar orbit within five days after launch, spending an additional 5-7 days orbiting before its final descent to the South Pole.
Luna-25 boasts a four-legged lander design featuring landing rockets and propellant tanks, alongside an upper compartment housing solar panel, communication tools, onboard computers, and scientific instruments. Chandrayaan-3, on the other hand, comprises an indigenous lander module (LM), a propulsion module (PM), and a rover equipped with scientific payloads for surface analysis.
Chandrayaan-3's lander features Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) and Langmuir Probe (LP), while its rover carries instruments such as the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS). Luna-25 carries eight sophisticated scientific instruments encompassing gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers, infrared spectrometers, mass spectrometers, and imaging systems.
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Chandrayaan-3's landing site is precisely specified by lunar coordinates, covering an area of 4 km x 2.4 km in the southern region. Luna-25 targets a primary landing near the lunar south pole, with a secondary site near the Manzini crater's southwest region.
Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover have a mission lifespan of around one lunar day (about 14 Earth days). In contrast, Luna-25's lander is projected to function on the lunar surface for approximately one year, conducting studies on regolith and exospheric particles.
Luna-25 focuses on studying lunar polar regolith composition and analysing the lunar polar exosphere's plasma and dust components, in alignment with NASA's objectives. Chandrayaan-3's aims involve demonstrating safe landings, rover mobility, and on-site scientific experiments, as outlined by ISRO.
Luna-25 will utilise a Soyuz-2 Fregat booster for its launch. Chandrayaan-3 opted for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III M4 rocket for its journey to the Moon's South Pole.
ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 has been applauded around the world for its cost efficiency while maintaining its reliability. Total cost of Chandrayaan-3 is under Rs 615 crore, significantly less than the budget of a typical sci-fi Hollywood movie. Meanwhile, Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS has not officially disclosed the total budget of its Luna-25 mission. However, the mission has been delayed by over 2 years after European Space Agency refused to deliver the camera that was required on the rover for the mission, after Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
Even though ISRO and ROSCOMOS have said that there won’t be any clash between the two missions in terms of landing and research areas, people from both the countries are still eager to watch which of the two rovers land first in this space race. India and Russia have always been close to each other in terms of economic, defence and diplomatic support. This friendly race between the two countries will only push the dream of exploring the depths of space even further for the mankind.