Amid Chandrayaan 3 hype, watch how China, Russia and USA are competing to conquer the Moon

As India launches Chandrayaan 3, all eyes are on the Moon. But India is not alone in trying to conquer Earth's natural satellite.

With a new Cold War appearing to be brewing between the United States of America and China, the Moon has emerged as the big prize once again.

China is planning a manned mission to the Moon by 2030.
Russia has an agreement with China to build a research facility on the Moon's surface.

Meanwhile, American space agency NASA wants to send astronauts to the Moon by 2025.

Through the Chandryaan-3 programme, ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.

The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by space scientists for its ability to carry a heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as ISRO's ambitious moon mission is hugely anticipated from this spaceport on Friday.

The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

Friday's mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer Orbit.

The LVM3 vehicle has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multiple satellites and interplanetary missions among others. It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying domestic and international customer satellites, ISRO said.

Scientists at ISRO through the third moon mission aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.

On Tuesday, the 'launch rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process that lasted for over 24 hours concluded at Sriharikota while the next day, the Mission Readiness Review was completed by the scientists.

(With PTI inputs)