Chandrayaan 3 vs Luna 25: India or Russia who will win the Space War

The race to the south pole of the Moon gained momentum after India's Chandrayaan-3, slipped into its final stage where the lander module comprising the lander and rover separated from the propulsion modul

Chandrayaan-3 seems to be in a tight race with Russia's lunar mission, Luna-25, which successfully reached lunar orbit

Chandrayaan-3 plans to be the first to land on the Moon's south pole

However, speculations are rife that Luna-25's swift trajectory might enable it to land on the moon's surface before Chandrayaan-3

The proximity, and possible overlap, of their landing dates — August 21-23 for Luna-25 and August 23-24 for Chandrayaan-3 — has intensified global attention

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14 spacecraft. It entered into lunar orbit on August 5, following which orbit reduction manoeuvres were carried out on August 6, 9 and 14

Luna-25 was launched on August 10, kicking off the first moon mission in modern Russian history

Luna-25 still has a huge milestone ahead which is a planned soft landing near the moon's south pole, which the mission aims to attempt in the next five to seven days

The surged interest in Moon's south pole is because of its potential water resources and unique geological features