'India Made Impressive Progress': After Luna Failure, Putin Lauds ISRO Over Chandrayaan-3 Success

In a message to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin expressed his heartfelt wishes on India's successful soft landing on the Moon's South Pole.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated India on the successful lunar landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on Wednesday (August 23). In a message to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin expressed his heartfelt wishes on India's successful soft landing on the Moon's South Pole.

Chandrayaan-3 accomplished a gentle touchdown on the lunar south pole, making India the pioneer in achieving this milestone. The successful landing occurred at 6:04 pm IST on August 23.

The Kremlin issued a statement acknowledging the significant step forward in space exploration and commending India's remarkable strides in science and technology. The statement also conveyed Putin's sincere congratulations and best wishes to the leadership and staff of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

"Please, accept my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the successful landing of the Indian space station Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon near its South Pole," it said. 

"This is a big step forward in space exploration and certainly a testament to the impressive progress made by India in the area of science and technology," the statement said. "Kindly convey my sincere congratulations and best wishes for new achievements to the leadership and staff of the Indian Space Research Organization," it added.

All the phases of descent during the ‘15 minutes of terror’ were successfully completed. Chandrayaan-3 underwent initial preparation, velocity reduction, orientation change, attitude hold phase, fine braking, final descent, and touchdown. Powered descent began after the automatic landing sequence was initiated.

On Sunday, Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon. According to Russia's space corporation, Roskosmos, the unmanned robot lander crashed after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit. "The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon," Roskosmos said in a statement, as quoted by news agency Reuters.

Luna 25 was the first Soviet lunar exploration spacecraft that was launched after 47 years. Luna 24, which launched into space on August 14, 1976, was the last Soviet lunar mission. Since Russia became an independent country following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Luna 25 is the country's first lunar exploration mission.