Vikram Lander Exceeds Chandrayaan-3 Mission Goals, With A Hop

Days after Chandrayaan-3's successful moon landing, the Vikram Lander has "soft-landed" on the lunar surface again, the Indian space agency said today. 

"Vikram Lander has exceeded Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives and successfully completed a "hop experiment"," said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 - 40 cm away," ISRO said.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
??Vikram soft-landed on ?, again!

Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.

On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI — ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023

ISRO said this achievement "kickstart enthuses future sample return and human missions."

India made history as the first country to land near the south pole of the moon with its Chandrayaan-3 lander last month.