After Chandrayaan-3, these are the missions rushing to Moon in 2023

The Moon truly has become the hotbed for space exploration as several private and government-owned agencies have planned their missions to the Earth's nearest neighbour. In the second half of 2023 alone, five missions are launching to the Moon. The race starts with ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 lifting off on July 14 at 2:35 pm. While ISRO has its fingers crossed for the historic mission, here is a look at the companies that will follow suit. 

Russia's Luna 25

After multiple delays, it seems like Russia's Luna 25 mission is ready to lift off possibly in mid-August. It is safe to say that Roscosmos is prepared to launch this time as the lander was delivered to the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The lander will be launched aboard the Soyuz rocket and it will mark Russia's return to the Moon after more than three decades. The last mission launched from the Russian soil back in 1976 when the Soviet Union was still in existence. Named Luna 24, the mission fetched about 170 grams of soil. Weighing approximately 800 kg, the lander is carrying 30 kg of scientific payloads for lunar exploration. 

(The Luna-25 lander; Image: Roscosmos)

Japan's SLIM

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is another lunar mission being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is scheduled to launch from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center on August 26 and the launch window runs till September 15. The lander will liftoff as a ride-share payload with the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) and will attempt a pinpoint landing on the lunar surface. 

"It will also test technology fundamental to exploration in low-gravity environments, an important requirement for future scientific investigation of the solar system," JAXA said in a statement. This would be the second lunar mission of a Japanese origin attempting a lunar landing in recent times. The first was the HAKUTO-R mission from a private firm ispace which launched on December 11 last year but crashed in April 2023. 

(Japan's SLIM lander; Image: JAXA)

Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission

Texas-based Intuitive Machines is also planning to launch its lunar mission IM-1 in the third quarter of 2023. The company has named its lander Nova-C which will liftoff aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. IM says that its lander will spend nearly one-Earth day orbiting the Moon before attempting a landing, the first by a private US company. This firm has won multiple contracts for NASA under the commercial lunar program and will carry several scientific payloads of the US space agency and other customers. However, an official update on the progress of the mission is awaited. 

(Artist's representation of the Nova-C lander; Image: Intuitive Machines)

Astrobotic's Peregrine M1

Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic is targeting the launch of its Peregrine Mission One in late 2023 with 14 NASA payloads to the lunar surface. The company has been long claiming that its lander is ready to launch and updated in February this year that it is waiting to be shipped to Florida. Peregrine will launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan rocket. However, the rocket will launch no earlier than late 2023 due to repair work going on in its first stage, ULA confirmed to Ars Technica's Eric Berger.  

(The Peregrine lander; Image: Astrobotics)