India’s Chandrayaan-2 Moon Mission to Be Launched in January 2019

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo Courtesy: NASA)

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan has said that the window to launch India’s second mission to the moon – Chandrayaan-2 – has been slotted between 3 January 2019 and 16 February 2019.

Chandrayaan-2 is being referred to as ISRO’s “most complex mission”, and has been scheduled for a January 2019 launch after experts suggested changes to avert failure, the ISRO chief said.

During a press conference, K Sivan said that the project was reviewed by experts who suggested some changes in entering the orbit and in landing the rover. Similar steps were taken by the Chinese space organisation while executing their moon mission.

Earlier, ISRO has announced that the moon mission will be launched this year in October and would cost around Rs 800 crore but the delay has now been confirmed.

Chandrayaan-2 will be equipped with a lander and rover probe which will descend on the surface of the moon from where it will observe the lunar surface and send back data which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil.

Due to the changes suggested, the overall weight of the mission has also increased and now it would be launched with the help of GLSV Mark III launcher meant for heavier payloads.

The mission will have an orbiter weighing 2,379kg, lander named Vikram weighing 1,471kg and a rover weighing 27kg.

K Sivam, Chairperson, ISRO 

(With inputs from IANS.)