‘Good for India’: Elon Musk on post claiming India’s Chandrayaan-3 cost less than Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar

Billionaire Elon Musk has reacted to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming that India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, cost less than the budget of Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi film Interstellar.

The Twitter post, dated August 21, said that while Interstellar’s budget was a whopping $165 million, India spent only $75 million on its latest moon mission.

“Kind of crazy when you realise India's budget for Chandrayaan-3 ($75 million) is less than the film Interstellar ($165 million),” the text read.

Reacting to it, Elon Musk wrote, “Good for India”.

How much did Chandrayaan-3 cost?

According to the news agency Reuters, a budget of $74 million was allocated for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which is less than the production cost of the 2013 space thriller film Gravity.

In 2020, then Isro chairman K Sivan revealed that Chandrayaan-3 would cost Rs 615 crore (Dh273.63 million). He had said that the lander, rover, and propulsion module Rs 250 crore (Dh111.23 million) and another Rs 365 crore (Dh162.39 million) would be spent on the launch and service. “Together the cost would be Rs 615 crore (Dh273.63 million),” he had said, according to The Times of India.

• Chandrayaan-3: Nasa chief congratulates India, Isro on successful moon landing