India to celebrate National Space Day on August 23 to mark Chandrayaan-3’s touchdown: PM Modi

PM Modi further celebrated the success of India's moon mission and named the landing spot of the Vikram lander as ‘Shiv Shakti’. He also christened the location where Chandrayaan-2 had left its mark in 2019 as ‘Tiranga Point’.

He continued by suggesting that this ‘Shivkshakti’ point will motivate future generations to utilise science to improve the well-being of humanity.

PM Modi made these announcements while addressing scientists at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking & Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru, where he llauded their efforts, saying, “You took ‘Make in India’ to the moon.”

India's scientific community has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to acknowledge August 23 as National Space Day, saying it motivates them to work harder.

Nilesh M. Desai, the Director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, who on Saturday also announced that the launch of the Aditya L-1 observatory is likely to take place on September 2, shared his reaction.

"PM Modi’s speech was very motivating…Honourable PM’s announcements were also motivating to all of us…he declared August 23rd as National Space Day, this is a big thing for space scientists like us..the point where Chandrayaan-3 lander landed, was declared as "Shivshakti" point... these announcements motivated all of us to rededicate ourselves to work for the country in the space domain," Desai said.

On the declaration, ISRO scientist/engineer Padmavathi said, "ShivShakti is the name he (PM Modi) has given for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 and for Chandrayaan-2, 'Tiranga' is the name he has given for the landing spot. It is very encouraging for us that he is here today, giving such a motivational talk. Indeed it's our honour that he is our Prime Minister. It's totally inspiring and motivating."

Prime Minister Modi also met with the team of scientists who played a pivotal role in the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission. His presence at the ISRO headquarters was marked by celebration, as he embraced ISRO Chairman S Somanath to commemorate the remarkable culmination of the challenging lunar landing endeavour.