At least 26 companies from Kerala contributed to India’s Moon mission triumph as their products were used in the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Six public sector companies and 20 private companies from Kerala participated in the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which successfully demonstrated a soft landing on the Moon on Wednesday evening, State Industries Minister P Rajeev said in a Facebook post.

“Kerala has proudly participated in the mission,” he said.

On Wednesday, India achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first country to successfully land on the Moon’s south pole.

“#Chandrayaan3’s historic lunar landing is a monumental achievement! Huge appreciation to #isro and the brilliant scientists behind it. The nation’s pride soars high today, and Kerala’s significant participation adds a special touch to this remarkable feat,” Rajeev wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

This includes PSUs like KELTRON, KMML, SIFL, TCC, KAL and SIDCO and 20 private companies.

Various products manufactured by these companies were used in the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the minister said.

The Titanium Sponge Plant at KMML, which was set up using the technology developed by the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), a unit of DRDO, provided the titanium sponge metal for making the engine components of the space vehicle for India’s ambitious Moon mission Chandrayaan-3, KMML MD J Chandrabose had earlier said.

“The first batch of the titanium sponge metal was produced in the year 2011. Our products were used for the Chandrayaan-2 mission as well. VSSC procures aerospace grade titanium sponge metal from us, which they melt and make into titanium alloy for the engine parts,” he had told PTI.

With this touchdown on the Moon to script history after a flawless 41-day voyage and less than a week after a Russian lander headed to the lunar south pole crashed, India has become the fourth country to master the technology of soft landing on the Moon after the US, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union.