Chandrayaan 3 and Luna 25 are in lunar orbit with six other spacecraft, preparing to settle near the Moon’s south pole. The lunar orbit is becoming increasingly congested and dangerous, necessitating close coordination and collision avoidance procedures among space organisations. With scientific, commercial, and crewed missions, lunar exploration is projected to rise in the future, necessitating new norms and best practices for space operations.
On August 6, 2023, Chandrayaan 3 injected itself into lunar orbit, and there were already six spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. NASA missions include the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Capstone, and two Artemis probes. ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 and the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter continue to orbit the Moon, collecting crucial data.
There are also two defunct spacecraft in orbit: the Chandrayaan 1 mission and JAXA’s Ouna spacecraft. All other spacecraft that have ever entered lunar orbit have either crashed into the Moon’s surface or been moved to a non-Moon orbit, such as the Chinese relay satellite Queqiao for the Chang’e 4 mission, which has been moved to a halo orbit around the second Moon-Earth Lagrange point.
The Russian Luna 25 mission, which is set to launch in just a few hours, will enter lunar orbit by August 16 and aim to land north of the Boguslavsky crater between August 21 and 24, 2023. Chandrayaan 3 will join it on August 23, at a distance of around 100 miles, near the Manzinus crater.
The Chandrayaan 3 mission includes lunar bound movements, risk assessment, and near encounters with other lunar orbiters. ISRO works with international organisations to provide best practices and guidelines for lunar orbit activities. The Artemis 3 programme and an International Research Station are anticipated to support lunar personnel trips with a growing number of orbiters, landers, and rovers.
Current international space debris reduction recommendations are centred on low Earth orbit, but space agencies will adapt lessons learnt from Earth orbit to lunar orbit. ISRO is dedicated to safe and sustainable space exploration.