Moon Mission Chandrayaan-2 to take off in 2017

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS): India’s second lunar probe, Chandrayaan-2, is planned to be launched in 2017, the parliament was told on Thursday.

“The Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, has Orbiter, Lander and Rover configuration. It is planned to be launched during 2017-2018 time frame by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota,” Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation, Chandrayaan-2 is an advanced version of the Chandrayaan-1 mission.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched from the Chennai-based spaceport on October 22, 2008. It was a successful mission where the spacecraft orbited around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geological mapping of the Earth’s natural satellite.

Chandryaan-2 will be an indigenous mission where the ISRO will develop the lunar Lander and be responsible for the Orbiter and Rover as well as the launch by GSLV.