[India launches its first lunar mission with Chandrayaan-1](https://www.space.com/space-exploration/on-this-day-in-space-october-21-2026)
On October 21, 2008, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched Chandrayaan-1, marking the nation's first deep space flight and initial lunar mission. Lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the spacecraft carried an orbiter and an impactor.
On October 21, 2008, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched Chandrayaan-1, marking the nation's first deep space flight and initial lunar mission. Lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the spacecraft carried an orbiter and an impactor. It entered lunar orbit three weeks later on November 8, releasing a probe that crashed into the moon on November 14.
The orbiter operated with 11 instruments from India, NASA, the European Space Agency, and other international partners, gathering data that contributed to findings of water ice in polar craters. Contact with the orbiter ended in August 2009 due to an apparent power failure from overheating. Although this cut the mission short of its two-year plan, ISRO stated that it had achieved at least 95 percent of its objectives.
India later expanded its lunar program with the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission and the successful 2023 Chandrayaan-3 landing near the south pole, with a sample-return mission slated for 2028.
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Original publication: 22 October 2026 03:11
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