Elon Musk reacts to Chandrayaan-3 vs ‘Interstellar’ budget

Chandrayaan-3 vs 'Interstellar' budget comparison is viral [Image credit: ISRO (L) and InterstellarMovie/Facebook (R)]

The cost of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission stood at Rs 615 crore ($75 million) in 2020 - less than half the budget of the Hollywood film Interstellar, which was completed at a cost of $165 million. While astounding, the numbers don’t lie – a film about space cost more than an actual space mission.

This surprising fact is currently going viral on X (formerly Twitter), where it even caught the attention of Elon Musk.

“Kinda crazy when you realize India's budget for Chandrayaan-3 ($75M) is less than the film Interstellar ($165M),” reads a post by Newsthink on X.

Musk responded to the post with praise for India. “Good for India,” the billionaire tweeted, with an emoji of the Indian tricolour at the end.

Good for India !

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2023

ISRO on Wednesday said it is all set to initiate the Automatic Landing Sequence (ALS) for its ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) to touch down on the lunar surface this evening.

The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan) is scheduled to make a touch down near the south polar region of the Moon at 6:04 pm on Wednesday, a feat not achieved by any country so far.

It was in 2020 that ISRO Chairman K Sivan told reporters that Chandrayaan-3 cost Rs 615 crore. Of this, the rover and propulsion module cost Rs 250 crore and the launch service cost Rs 365 crore.

In comparison, the Chandrayaan-2 mission had cost Rs 978 crore.

(With inputs from PTI)