India successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14th and successfully soft-landed today (August 23rd). It is a follow-up on India’s second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2. Ritu Karidhal is known as the “Rocket Woman” of India, and she is leading the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Chandrayaan-3, the most ambitious mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation was launched, on 14th July around 2:35 PM from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Ritu Karidhal Srivastav is leading the mission.
This mission has great scientific and strategic importance for India. If this mission becomes a success then India will become part of very few countries that successfully launched a mission to the Moon.
Who is Ritu Karidhal?

Ritu Karidhal, leading ISRO’s ambitious mission Chandrayaan-3, is an ISRO scientist. She is the mission director of the Chandrayaan 3 mission, and prior to that, she was also part of the Mangalyaan Mission as a deputy director.
If we talk about the salary, it’s unknown right now to us but she is actively working in ISRO since 1997. Ritu Karidhal has a total of 26 years of experience so her salary would be around 18 lac to 24 lac per annum.
Ritu always had an interest in Space sciences. She loved gazing at the night sky, and she used to collect newspaper cuttings about any space-related activities of ISRO and NASA.
Ritu Karidhal Family

Ritu Karidhal was born on April 13, 1975, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. She is married to Avinash Srivastav, and together the couple has two kids, Aditya and Anisha. Karidhal was born into a middle-class family, and she has two brothers and sisters.

Her parents always motivated her and her siblings to study hard, and she has been a very studious child since childhood.
Ritu Karidhal Education
Ritu Karidhal did her graduation with a B.Sc. in Physics. Later, she did her M. Sc. in Physics at the University of Lucknow. After that, she takes admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She was an expert in Aerospace. Later, she taught in the same division as a research fellow at Lucknow University.
Career
Ritu Karidhal joined ISRO in 1997. She plays a key role in ISRO missions, and she is among the most important members of ISRO. Ritu was the Deputy Operations Director and played a key role in the development of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan.
Ritu was also a member of Chandryaan-2’s team and supervised the Chandrayaan-2 mission as the mission director, apart from that, Ritu was involved in several other essential missions.
Awards
In 2007, Karidhal was awarded the ISRO Young Scientist Award by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (then president of India). Karidhal has also presented at TED and TEDx events, describing the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission. Lucknow University, where Karidhal studied, honored her with an honorary doctorate.
Ritu Karidhal FAQs
A. Ritu Karidhal is a scientist in ISRO, leading the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
A. Ritu Karidhal is 48 years old in 2023.
A. Ritu Karidhal has several achievements, and the most noted among those were Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3.
A. Ritu Karidhal is married to Avinash Srivastav.
A. Ritu Kardhal is the mother of two children.