India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 is expected to be launched in July, with an expected landing on the Moon in September, the Indian space agency said on Wednesday, 1 May.
In a statement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said: "All the modules are getting ready for Chandrayaan-2 launch during the window of 9 July to 16 July 2019, with an expected Moon landing on 7 September 2019."
Chandrayaan-2 has three modules namely Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan).
The Orbiter and Lander modules will be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integrated module and accommodated inside the rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV MK-III).
The rover is housed inside the Lander.
After launch into earth-bound orbit by GSLV MK-III, the integrated module will reach the Moon orbit using Orbiter propulsion module.
Subsequently, Lander will separate from the Orbiter and soft land at the predetermined site close to the lunar south pole.
Further, the Rover will roll out for carrying out scientific experiments on the lunar surface. Instruments are also mounted on Lander and Orbiter for carrying out scientific experiments, the ISRO said.
K Sivan, chairman of ISRO told The Times of India that once the Lander, Vikarm, lands on the lunar surface, the rover Prayan will come out and roll on the lunar surface for 300-400 metres. He further said that there will be 13 payloads altogether in the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.
This launch was initially planned for April 2018 but ISRO kept deferring the plans because of complexities.
India's first moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in October 2008, where the spacecraft made more than 3,400 orbits around the moon during which it took hundreds of images of the moon. The spacecraft was lost on 29 August 2009, marking the end of the first moon mission, according to the TOI report.
(With inputs from The Times of India and IANS.)
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