Science News Roundup: India's Chandrayaan-3 rover rolls onto moon's surface, braces for new challenges; India's Skyroot expects to double rocket launches amid Chandrayaan-3's success and more

This is another reason to analyse the causes (of the failure) and eliminate them next time." Japan suspends H-IIA rocket launch for moonshot because of strong winds Japan's space agency suspended a planned launch on Monday of a rocket carrying what would be the country's first spacecraft to land on the moon, with operator Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) citing high winds.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Explainer-Japan's moon landing: When is it and why is it important?

Japan's space agency on Monday postponed the planned launch of what it hopes will become the first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon due to strong, high-altitude winds. Japan aims to launch the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) into space by mid-September with a lunar landing seen starting as early as January 2024.

Kremlin plays down moon landing failure, says space programme will continue

The Kremlin on Tuesday said that the failure of Russia's Luna-25 mission to the Moon earlier this month was "nothing terrible" and that the main thing was to continue Russia's space exploration program. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This is not a reason to despair, nor to tear our hair out. This is another reason to analyse the causes (of the failure) and eliminate them next time."

Japan suspends H-IIA rocket launch for moonshot because of strong winds

Japan's space agency suspended a planned launch on Monday of a rocket carrying what would be the country's first spacecraft to land on the moon, with operator Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) citing high winds. Although the H-IIA rocket, the Japanese flagship launch vehicle, has a 98% launch success rate, unsuitable wind conditions in the upper atmosphere forced a suspension 27 minutes before the planned liftoff.

India sets September launch date for mission to study the sun

India's first space-based observatory to study the sun will be launched on Sept. 2, the country's space agency said on Monday. The announcement, in a post on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, comes days after India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the unexplored south pole of the moon.

India's Chandrayaan-3 rover rolls onto moon's surface, braces for new challenges

The moon rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 exited the spacecraft on Thursday to begin exploring the surface of the lunar south pole and conducting experiments, and was braced for new challenges, the space agency chief said. The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday, making India the first country to achieve this feat just days after Russia's Luna-25 failed in a similar mission.

India's Skyroot expects to double rocket launches amid Chandrayaan-3's success

Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India's first private rocket in 2022, aims to double its planned launches starting next year on a likely boost to the country's fledgling private space sector from the success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission.

The Hyderabad-based company, backed by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, is also aiming to raise more money by the end of next year, co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana told Reuters in an interview.

(With inputs from agencies.)