Total six manned missions landed on the Moon and till date there are only twelve men in the world, who are known to have walked on the Moon.

India is launching its third mission to the Moon called Chandrayaan 3, possibly on 14 July 2023. Just to get some sense about how some other states in the world are working on their Moon agenda, this article briefly explores the various other attempts, which are being made or were made in the recent past.

The only Moon program of human landings on the Moon has been the Apollo program of the United States (US). Right from the preparation to landing the first humans on the moon from 1968-72, the US Space agency NASA is responsible for this programme.

Total six manned missions landed on the Moon and till date there are only twelve men in the world, who are known to have walked on the Moon. The Soviet Union also worked towards sending humans to the Moon, however they could not get any success. The Soviets were the first to make a robotic landing on the Moon. Their Luna program did fifteen successful missions, these were a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon, between 1959 to 1976.

It could be said that the world had lost interest in the Moon, mainly after the Apollo program was stopped. In recent times (21st century), some space agencies in the world are found investing in Lunar Exploration. There are two clear views, which have emerged during the last three decades or so about why the Moon should be revisited. One is about the need to study the Moon, the approach is more related to science, mainly associated with studying the resources on the Moon and two, since humans have not returned since Apollo 17 departed in 1972, hence plan a program for return of humans to the Moon. During the last one or two decades, the world has witnessed a major technology revolution. This is making humans more confident about ideas like colonizing the Moon. Already, NASA has given a construction company a US$57 million contract to develop 3D-printing technology to build roads, launchpads and homes on the moon’s surface. It needs to be noted that there is a significant involvement of private companies (globally) in Moon programs of various states.

Some decades back, Japan had articulated a major Moon agenda, however their progress has been slow. In 1960, their first lunar mission had taken place. At that time the Hiten spacecraft had looped around the moon. SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer), nicknamed Kaguya was successfully launched during September 2007. The state space agency (JAXA) has articulated plans to have a rover and lander mission and a lunar sample return mission. During Apr 2023, Japan attempted the first private (Japanese startup ispace) Moon landing, which ended in failure. This spacecraft called Hakuto-R was launched by SpaceX and took around three months of time to enter the lunar orbit, however the subsequent landing on the Moon’s surface was a failure. It carried two lunar rovers: a four-wheeled one mini rover made by Sony and Japanese toy company Tomy and one from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  In recent times states like UAE and Saudi Arabia are found making major interests towards establishing space programs.

South Korea, a technologically advanced state, surprisingly took a good amount of time to become a spacefaring state (Jun 2022). On August 4, 2022, South Korea launched Danuri or the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) to the Moon. This satellite was inserted into orbit around the Moon on 16 Dec 2022. There was support from NASA for undertaking this mission and the orbiter was launched by SpaceX. In future, South Korea wants to undertake a lander and rover mission.

As per reports North Korea is also having a program called North Korean Lunar Exploration Program (NKLEP). They want to have their own lunar orbiter and want to go for a lunar lander and subsequently undertake a lunar sample-return mission. Nothing much is known about the exact status of their program.

Israel has its own space program with limited mandate. Recently, it supported a private agency to establish a Moon program.  Beresheet was Israel’s first lunar mission and the first attempt by a private company (SpaceIL) to land on the Moon. The launch was successful and the mission did achieve lunar orbit, but was lost during an April 2019 lunar landing attempt. This agency is planning for its second mission around 2024.

Russia’s proposed mission (Aug 2023) is known as Luna-25. It is expected to be a lander mission. Incidentally, this will be the first probe sent to the lunar surface since the Soviet Union’s Luna-24 sample-return mission in 1976. Owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Space Agency (ESA) has terminated cooperative activities with Russia on the impending Luna-25, 26 and 27 missions. ESA has also suspended the joint mission with Russia called the ExoMars.

For the 21st century, the biggest Moon agendas are that of China and the US. Both these states appear to be in competition to become the first 21st century state to put humans on the Moon. The US has conceptualised an Artemis program, which is a robotic and human Moon exploration program. Here NASA would be supported by the ESA and space agencies of Japan and Canada. Artemis 1 was successfully launched during Nov 16, 2022. It was an uncrewed flyby mission to the Moon. The next mission would be a crewed flyby and subsequently a crewed lunar landing mission would be undertaken.

China started its Moon journey with the launch of Chang’e-1, an orbiter during Oct 2007. The first Chinese lunar landing happened during Chang’e-3 mission, it was a lander and rover system. Presently, Chang’e-4 and Chang’e-5 systems are currently operational. China has succeeded with a sample return mission.

Broadly, it could be said that the return of humans to the Moon is going to become a reality in the coming few years. Today, various Moon programs in the world are at various levels of development. Private agencies are yet to get success with their Moon agendas. It appears that, Moon would be eventually conquered by using a public-private partnership model.

https://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-global-moon-agenda-3161848/