India Becomes the Fourth Country to Land on the Moon With Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft

India staked a new claim as a national superpower in space, landing its Chandrayaan-3 mission safely on the moon’s unexplored south pole on Wednesday.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft launched last month and touch down on the lunar surface around 8:34 a.m. ET.

The feat makes India the fourth country – after Russia, the U.S. and China – to land on the moon, and the first to land on one of the moon’s lunar poles.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tuned in to the livestream of the landing from South Africa’s Johannesburg, where he attended the 15th BRICS summit of emerging markets.

In his speech, the prime minister noted that India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone but this success belongs to all of humanity.

The lunar south pole has emerged as a place of recent exploration interest thanks to recent discoveries about traces of water ice on the moon.

India previously attempted a lunar south pole landing in September 2019, but a software failure caused the Chandrayaan-2 mission to crash into the surface.

A professor of strategy and security studies at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Wendy Cobb told newsmen that ″[The south pole is a very interesting, historical, scientific and geologic area that a lot of countries are trying to get at as it can serve as a base for future exploration.

She added that the discovery of water on the south pole of the moon is “really important for future exploration,” as it could serve as a source of fuel for rockets and spacecraft.