---
title: "India’s Space Chief: We Found Our Lander Months Before NASA"
description: "The chief of India's space agency claimed their orbiter had spotted Vikram, the perished lunar lander, months before NASA announced it had found it."
date: "2019-12-05"
modified: "2019-12-05"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/india-space-chief-found-lander-months-nasa"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "india"
  - "lunar lander"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# India’s Space Chief: We Found Our Lander Months Before NASA

![The chief of India's space agency claimed their orbiter had spotted Vikram, the perished lunar lander, months before NASA announced it had found it.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/india-space-chief-found-lander-months-nasa.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ISRO/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Taking Credit

Back in September, the Indian Space Research Organization [announced that](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/india-finds-lost-moon-lander>) it had found its Vikram lander, which it had [lost contact with](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/india-lost-communication-lunar-lander>) days earlier as it prepared to land on the Moon — and said it was trying to reestablish contact with the lost lander.

Months later, NASA [made a similar announcement](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-india-lunar-lander-remains>): that it had spotted the wreckage of the lander, with the help of amateur space enthusiast Shanmuga "Shan" Subramanian, who analyzed images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Now, it seems as though ISRO's leadership feels that NASA is getting too much credit for the discovery.

"After the landing date itself, our website had given that our own orbiter has located Vikram," ISRO chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan told reporters on Wednesday, as [quoted by *India Today*](<https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/isro-chief-sivan-rejects-nasa-claim-on-locating-vikram-lander-chandrayaan-2-1624919-2019-12-04>). "Our own orbiter had located Vikram lander. We had already declared that on our website, you can go back and see."

## Located Again

Is that a fair analysis? It's open to interpretation.

NASA didn't claim it was the first to spot the lander, and to be fair, India seemed pretty hazy in September about whether its lander had crashed or landed but lost contact.

The clearest takeaway: India's crashed lander was a disappointment, so maybe its leadership is looking for distraction.

**READ MORE:** [ Thanks but no thanks: Indian space chief rebuffs claims it was NASA who ‘found’ crashed Vikram Moon lander first](<https://www.rt.com/news/474970-india-moon-lander-nasa/>) \[*RT*\]

**More on the lander:** *[NASA Spots Remains of India’s Lost Lunar Lander](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-india-lunar-lander-remains>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)