Chandrayaan-2 To Launch By Mid-April, Will Place Rover On Moon

January 13, 2019 admn2017

Chandrayaan-2 is among the 32 missions that the Isro is planning for 2019. Among the highest priorities for Isro this year is the ambitious Gaganyaan mission that aims to put three Indians in space. The Chandrayaan-2 launch has been postponed twice

January 11, 2019

Chandrayaan-2 has been delayed because Isro was not able to complete some tests

Isro is planning to launch twice the number of missions it did in 2019

The manned space mission may launch in December 2021

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Moon mission, is currently scheduled to be launched in mid-April, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said today. Chandrayaan-2, which will place a rover on the Moon, has been delayed twice — it was first set to be launched late in 2018 but was postponed to January this year.

However, that launch was postponed as well with Isro chairman K Sivan saying today that some tests for the mission could not be completed on time. “Right now it is scheduled from March 25 to April end… normal targeting date is mid April,” Sivan said at his annual press conference today.

Sivan expressed confidence that Isro would meet this target date. When asked about the next launch window in case the April deadline was missed, Sivan said that it would be sometime in June. But, the Isro chief added, the space organisation is targeting to get the launch done by April itself.

Chandrayaan-2 is among the 32 missions that the Isro is planning for 2019, K Sivan said. This number is double the number of missions Isro launched in 2018, Sivan said.

At the press conference, Sivan also announced the mission timeline for Gaganyaan, an ambitious mission that aims to put three Indians in space. An Indian — Rakesh Sharma — has been to space, but he did so on a Russian spacecraft.

The Gaganyaan mission will be an Indian affair with possible some help from outside the country. The launch vehicle and the crew capsule will be Indian made. The selection and initial training of the astronauts will also be done under an Indian system, Sivan said.

The Gaganyaan project will have three launches — two unnamed test missions (one in December 2020 and the other in July 2021). The ambitious manned mission to space is targeted for December 2021.

Courtesy: India Today