Chandrayaan 3 – Lands on Moon, Benefits for India & Management Lessons

Chandrayan-3 has landed successfully on the unexplored South Pole of the Moon in the evening on August 23, 2023. The images released by ISRO show the attempts of soft landing by Vikram lander on the moon. Vikram carries a rover and after locating a safe landing spot, has accomplished the landing. The images reveal the success story of Chandrayan-3, a day after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed on the Moon.  After a 40-day journey starting from the Sathish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Vikram lander made a soft lunar landing at 6.04 PM IST on August 23. ISRO started the automatic landing sequence at 5.44 PM IST. The Vikram lander used its onboard computers and logic to try to make a soft landing on the Moon. 

The launch of Chandrayaan-3 took place on 14 July 2023, at 2:35 pm IST.  Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. Launch of Chandrayaan-3 is being seen as a giant step for Indian scientific progress. Benefits of Chandrayaan-3 include boost to Indian economy and new job creation. Chandrayaan-3 launch has many management lessons as well. MBAUniverse.com presents the background of Chandrayaan-3, and the important lessons for management students. 

The Background

Let’s start with the background. Chandrayaan-3 is the third and most recent lunar exploration mission under Chandrayaan programme. Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute glitch in the landing guidance software led to the lander crashing after entering lunar orbit, another lunar mission was proposed. 

ISRO has set following three main objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission:

1. Getting a lander to land safely and softly on the surface of the Moon.
2. Observing and demonstrating the rover’s loitering capabilities on the Moon.
3. In-site observation & conducting experiments on the materials available on the lunar surface to better understand composition of the Moon.

To achieve the objectives, several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as:

1. Altimeters
2. Velocimeters
3. Inertial Measurement
4. Propulsion System
5. Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC)
6. Hazard Detection and Avoidance
7. Landing Leg Mechanism.

Benefits of Chandrayaan 3 for India
According to experts there are several benefits from the launch of Chandrayaan 3.

1. Vikram's successful landing will put India in an elite club of countries. Only the US, Russia and China have been able to achieve this feat so far.
2. When Chandrayaan-3 soft-lands on the Moon, it will be a giant step for India — and a big boost for business too.
3. Chandrayaan-3 will be India's ticket to the “moon economy”, an emerging sector with a potential of billions of dollars.
4. Today, India's private space-tech ecosystem is beaming with a vast horizon of opportunities. Just a couple of years ago, India’s space economy was valued at over $9.6 billion in 2020. By 2025, this could go up to $13 billion, according to EY India. This sector will get a big boost from the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
5. The successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 could bolster investor confidence and attract more private investment in space technology.

Chandrayaan 3: MANAGEMENT LESSONS
There are a few leadership and management lessons from the successful launch of Chandrayaan 3.

1: There is no such thing as failure: Rather, every experience offers valuable lessons and feedback. When things don't go as planned initially, it doesn't equate to losing everything. Instead, it provides an opportunity to approach tasks with the benefit of past experiences. Past resources can be utilized in innovative ways. This accumulated knowledge sets individuals apart from newcomers, making a significant difference. An example of this concept can be seen in Chandrayaan-3, which will capitalize on the orbiter deployed during Chandrayaan-2 to fulfill communication and terrain mapping needs.

2: Learning from the past and adopting a proactive approach are vital. While plans may not always materialize precisely as intended, they serve as guiding beacons. Focusing on the future and being open to change are crucial attributes. An inspiring example is ISRO chairman S Somanath's strategy for Chandrayaan-3. Instead of relying solely on successful designs from Chandrayaan-2, they emphasized a failure-based design to anticipate potential pitfalls and safeguard a successful landing.

3: Look life beyond the lens of pass or fail. Life exists on a continuum between these two extremes, although we often perceive it in black-and-white terms: yes or no, success or failure, full or empty. Rather than seeing life as binary, we should broaden our minds to perceive it as a continuous spectrum—a range of diverse choices, constant improvement over yesterday. Embracing risks, learning from setbacks, and starting anew form the essence of this mindset.

Indeed, the launch of Chandrayaan-3 has many potential benefits for India and our economy. Chandrayaan-3 launch has many management lessons as well. Management students and aspirants must get motivation from this landmark achievement, and propel themselves for a bring future.