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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somnath on Monday said that the Chandrayaan-3- the third edition of India’s mission to the moon- will be launched this July.

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.

“I am very confident…” said Somnath today on the lunar mission.

The ISRO chairman was speaking after the space agency successfully placed the NVS-01, the first of the second-generation satellite series, into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle deployed the NVS-01 navigation satellite from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDC SHAR) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to ANI, Somanath said, “The lesson is very simple. Learn from the past, and do what is possible with your capacity. Failures may happen. There are a thousand reasons for a rocket to fail. Even today, this mission could have failed. But we have to do what is needed to be done”.

Meanwhile, the Chandraayan-3 mission consists of an indigenous lander module a propulsion module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions.

According to ISRO, the three mission objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 are- to demonstrate safe and soft landing on lunar Surface; to demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

It will be launched by the LVM3 rocket from SDSC SHAR centre in Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit, according to ISRO.

The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.

The main function of the Propulsion Module is to carry the Lander Module from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module.

Apart from this, the Propulsion Module also has one scientific payload as a value addition which will be operated post separation of Lander Module.

The launcher identified for Chandrayaan-3 is GSLV-Mk3 which will place the integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) of size 170 x 36500 km.

The Chandrayaan is an ongoing series of lunar space exploration programme of the ISRO. Chandrayaan-1, the first lunar probe of ISRO, in 2008-09 found water on the moon. The Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July 2019 and successfully inserted into orbit in August 2019. However, minutes its lander crash-landed on the moon after losing communication with the ground stations.

Earlier in the day, the ISRO Chairman Somnath congratulated the whole ISRO team after the successful launch of NVS-01.

“I would like to congratulate everyone on the outcome. The satellite is placed in the precised orbit. Congratulates to the entire ISRO for making this mission happen,” ISRO Chairman Somnath said in a press conference.

He appreciated the fact that the mission was accomplished after doing the rectifications after suffering a debacle during the last mission.

“This mission GV-F12 came after the debacle that happened in the F-10 mission where there was an issue in the cryogenic stage and the cryogenic engine could not get accomplished. I am very happy that the correction and modification at the cryogenic stage were done and we learnt the lessons to make our cryogenic stage more reliable. I want to specifically congratulate the entire ‘Failure Analysis Committee’ who went through this and made our life much better and also for the Liquid Propulsion System,” he said.

Somnath added, “Today the Navigation Satellite NVS-01 is the second generation of navigation satellite with additional capabilities that we have already brought into the satellite constellation where we make the signals more secure. We made a civilian frequency band L-1 and also introduced our Atomic Clock. And this is one of the five series of satellites with new configurations that are to be launched. I would like to thank all those who worked for this satellite and make the mission a grand success”.

Appreciating the government support, the ISRO Chairman also thanked the authorisation of the GSLV launch despite a failure during the last attempt.

“The confidence of the decision makers, our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other key functionaries who reviewed it to see that we have done the required work. The Navic Constellation is something very crucial for the nation to have a regional navigation constellation. I take this opportunity to tell you that we are going to make this Navic system fully functional and operational for the benefit of this nation,” he said.

He further said that the satellite is currently in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, from where it is the responsibility of the satellite team to correctly place it in the orbit.

Apprising about the future missions of ISRO, Chairman Somnath said, “In the coming months, we are going to launch PSLV as well as GSLV Mark-3. We are also going to launch the test vehicle of the Gaganyan (Man mission). Of course, the launches of further PSLV and SSLV are also in line”

“We are having the next launch of GSLV with a Climate and weather observation satellite called INSAT-3DS, which will be happening soon. And after that, the same rocket is bound to take NISR – India Nasa Synthetic Alergic Radar Satellite as well,” he added.


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Meteorite From Outer Solar System Challenges Planet Formation Timeline in Early Solar System

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Meteorite From Outer Solar System Challenges Planet Formation Timeline in Early Solar System

A minuscule meteorite seems to be rewriting the history of our solar system. The 50-gram Northwest Africa 12264 has brought a new understanding of when and how rocky worlds came together. Inner planets such as Earth and Mars were thought to have formed earlier than their more distant siblings, given temperatures and composition. But a new study of this meteorite, which originates from beyond the asteroid belt, suggests that the birth of planets throughout the solar system occurred tens of millions of years earlier than previously believed, narrowing the gap in time between the solar system’s inner and outer surfaces.

Outer Solar System Meteorite Reveals Rocky Planets Likely Formed Simultaneously Across the Galaxy

As per a study led by Dr Ben Rider-Stokes of The Open University and published in Communications Earth & Environment, the meteorite’s chemical makeup offers critical evidence. Its chromium and oxygen isotope ratios place its origin in the outer solar system. Most strikingly, lead isotope dating determined its age to be about 4.564 billion years, almost identical to basalt samples from the inner solar system that represent early planetary crusts.

These findings directly challenge the previous assumption that rocky planets beyond Jupiter formed two to three million years later due to their water-rich composition. Ice and water were thought to slow differentiation, the internal layering of planetary bodies. But this meteorite, with its outer solar birth and inner solar age, points to a far more synchronised process of rocky planet formation.

Scientists note that the discovery is also consistent with observations of exoplanetary systems. Based on this and past observations of disks of dust and gas around other stars, the evidence of planetesimals forming quickly and over large orbital separations adds to the argument that early solar system evolution may have been more universal than thought.

As trivial as the time difference might be in the context of a universe, the question is huge. A new timeline of planet formation is not only a retelling of Earth’s history but may also help determine how astronomers think about how planets form in the galaxy more generally, providing new hints about where and how in the galaxy Earth-like planets could take shape.

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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud



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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

Scientists from NASA observed the bursting expansion of gas, stars, and dust from the glittering territory of the dual star clusters using Hubble and Webb space telescopes. NGC 460 and NGC 456 stay in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are open clusters, with dwarf galaxies and orbit the Milky Way. These clusters are part of the extensive star complex clusters and nebulae that are most likely to be linked to each other. Stars are born upon the collapse of clouds.

Hubble and Webb Reveal Explosive Star Births in Small Magellanic Cloud

As per a report from NASA, the open clusters are from anywhere from a few dozen to many young stars, which are loosely bound by gravity. The images captured by Hubble capture the glowing and ionised gas, which comes from stellar radiation and blows bubbles in the form of gas and dust, which is blue in colour. The infrared of Webb shows the clumps and delicate filament-like structures and dust, which is red in colour.

NGC 460 and NGC 456: A Window into Early Universe Star Formation

Hubble shows the images of dust in the form of a silhouette against the blocking light; however, in the images of Webb, the dust is warmed by starlight and glows with infrared waves. The blend of gas and dust between the stars of the universe is called the interstellar medium. The region holding these clusters is known as the N83-84-85 complex and is home to multiple, rare O-type stars. These are hot and extremely massive stars that burn hydrogen like the Sun.

Such a state mimics the condition in the early universe; therefore, the Small Magellanic Cloud gives a nearby lab to find out the theories regarding star formation and the interstellar medium of the cosmos’s early stage.

With these observations, the researchers tend to study the gas flow from convergence to divergence, which helps in refining the difference between the Small Magellanic Cloud and its dwarf galaxy, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Further, it helps in knowing the interstellar medium and gravitational interactions between the galaxies.

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New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

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New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

The entry of a third known object into our solar system has been confirmed on July 1, 2025 by the astronomers. This object is named 3I/ATLAS, where 3I stands for “Third Interstellar”, having a highly hyperbolic (eccentricity ≈ 6.2) orbit, confirming it is not bound to the Sun but is a true interstellar visitor. Only two such visitors, 1I/ʻOumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), had been seen before. Notably, 3I/ATLAS appears to be the largest and brightest interstellar wanderer yet discovered.

Comparison with previous interstellars

According to NASA, astronomers from the ATLAS survey first spotted the object on July 1, 2025, using a telescope in Chile. It immediately drew attention for its unusual motion. Shortly after discovery, observers saw a faint coma and tail, leading to its classification as comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS).

This comet-like appearance is shared with 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar visitor. Global observatories now track 3I/ATLAS. It poses no threat but offers a rare opportunity to study alien material. Since 1I/ʻOumuamua was observed only as it was leaving the solar system, it was difficult for astronomers to get enough data on it to confirm its exact nature — hence the crazy theories about it being an alien spaceship — though it’s almost certainly an asteroid or a comet.

Size and Significance

3I/ATLAS is much larger and brighter than earlier interstellar visitors. It is about 15 kilometers (km) [9 miles] in diameter, with huge uncertainty, compared to 100m for 1I/’Oumuamua and less than 1km for 2I/Borisov. This brightness and size makes it a a better target for study. Astronomers are planning to analyze its light for chemical signatures from its home system to get clues about the formation of distant planetary systems.

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