NEW DELHI: In a first, Isro will launch two rockets to complete a single mission, the country’s fourth moon mission Chandrayaan-4 that will bring moon rocks and soil (regolith) back to Earth.
Two separate rockets — heavy-lifter LVM-3 and Isro’s workhorse PSLV — will carry different payloads for the same moon mission and will be launched on different days. If successful, Chandrayaan-4, which is slated to be launched not before 2028, will make India fourth nation with capability to bring back samples from the lunar surface.
“Aim of the mission is to collect samples from the lunar surface and return the samples safely to Earth for scientific studies,” according to a recent presentation by Isro chairman S Somanath at National Space Science Symposium.
Unlike previous Moon missions, which involved 2-3 modules, Chandrayaan-4 mission will consist of five spacecraft modules. These are propulsion module, descender module, ascender module, transfer module and re-entry module, the presentation said.