Chandrayaan 4 mission will be 'extremely challenging': ISRO chief Somanath shares details about next lunar project

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said, "...many things come to our minds whether we should repeat such a mission or bring samples or will we do a type of mission different from what others did. This question is still being debated and discussed." ALSO READ: Chandrayaan 3: What is India's mission to moon? Why is it important? Sonamath explains how the next lunar mission will be more challenging than Chandrayaan 2 and 3: 1. Somanath said there's a need for multiple launchers for this mission.

However, the Chandrayaan 3 mission was launched in a single phase. The mission has to demonstrate return and re-entry to Earth for sample delivery. 2. He also said the team "must have docking capability either on earth orbit or on the Moon's orbit...failure in docking mission can make a mission to fail." ALSO READ: India's Chandrayaan-2 guides Japan's SLIM mission to land on Moon 3. "We must have the robotic capability to operate a drill, select a sample and load it in compartments" to keep the samples very safe, Somanath said.

One of the objectives of the mission is to demonstrate the transfer of samples from one module to the other. 4. The ISRO chief also spoke about the technical capabilities.

"We first started with remote sensing, then we looked at the in-situ observations. The third phase is to bring (lunar) samples back to Earth for greater laboratory observations and analysis," Somanath said. The ISRO chief added that currently, the scientists are working on a concept by which India would be able to go to the Moon, collect samples of various natures, bring it back to Earth and hand it over for further studies.