But since it had successfully launched an orbital module, which continued to orbit the moon, the Chandrayaan-3 mission only consisted of a propulsion module, a lander, and a rover. The moon’s kickWhen Dr. McDowell says it had “a tussle with the moon in November”, he means the propulsion module had a relatively close pass by the moon. After this encounter, the orbit of the propulsion module changed in three ways. That is, the propulsion module no longer comes back anywhere near 125,000 km; it stays high almost all the time. In November 2025, the timing lined up such that the moon passed close enough to strongly tug on the propulsion module.

Source: The Hindu December 30, 2025 15:54 UTC