It has been a year since Vikram lander touched down near the lunar south pole — the first spacecraft in history to do so — and the scientific community is still parsing what the six-wheeled Pragyan rover found in those fourteen Earth days of operation. Spectroscopic data confirmed the presence of sulphur, iron, oxygen, and several other elements in the regolith, with sulphur's abundance proving particularly surprising to planetary scientists.

ISRO chairman S. Somanath has confirmed that Chandrayaan-4 — a sample-return mission — is in advanced planning, with a target launch window in 2028. The agency is simultaneously developing the LUPEX rover in collaboration with JAXA of Japan, which will drill up to two metres into the lunar surface in search of water ice.

The broader significance of Chandrayaan-3 extends beyond science. India's cost of roughly $75 million — a fraction of comparable missions by NASA and ESA — has prompted genuine interest from space agencies in the Global South about ISRO as a technical partner rather than merely a launch provider. That reputational dividend may prove more lasting than any single discovery.