Over a billion Indians celebrated the touchdown as Chandrayaan-3 became the first to reach the moon’s south pole and create history. After the successful soft landing on the moon, ISRO plans other missions. 

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India is preparing a collaborative lunar expedition with Japan, in which India will supply the lander and Japan will supply the launch vehicle and the rover, in addition to the scientific findings of Chandrayaan-3. The South Pole of the Moon will also be investigated by the robotic LUPEX mission.

The space agency has a long list of prospective missions with the goal of exploring uncharted territory in space even after Chandrayaan-3. Let’s check what are those:

L1 Aditya- Mission to study the SunAditya L1, which will be positioned in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is around 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth, will be the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun, according to ISRO's website. 

The main benefit of having a satellite in the halo orbit around the L1 point is that it can continuously see the Sun without being blocked by an eclipse or occultation. The benefit of continuously studying solar activity will increase as a result. The launch is scheduled for August 26.

NISAR- Mission to understand changes in Earth’s ecosystem The NISAR project, a joint venture between ISRO and NASA, is slated to launch in January 2024. The NISAR observatory project will map the Earth once every 12 days from a low-Earth orbit. 

The mission, with an estimated $1.5 billion project cost, will offer information for "understanding changes in Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, groundwater, and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and landslides."

Spadex- First manned space flightThe ISRO's Spadex project, which is a twin for the "space docking experiment," is a twin-spacecraft mission to mature technologies for orbital rendezvous, docking, and formation flying with potential uses in manned spaceflight, in-space satellite maintenance, and other close-proximity operations. The estimated mission cost is Rs 124.47 crore. It is planned to launch in the third quarter of 2024.

Mangalyaan 2- Mission to MarsThe ISRO's Mangalyaan 2 mission, also known as the Mars Orbiter Mission 2, is a second Mars mission that is scheduled to launch in 2024. The satellite will be equipped with "a hyperspectral camera, a high-resolution panchromatic camera, and a radar to understand early Martian crust, recent basalts, and boulder falls."

Gaganyaan 1, 2 and 3- First human space missionThe Gaganyaan project plans to launch a crew of three people into orbit at a 400-kilometre altitude for a three-day mission before returning them safely to land in Indian sea waters. Gaganyaan 3 would be India's first human space mission. The launch of this mission is planned for 2024.