ISRO Chandrayaan-2 Launch Live: India’s Second Moon Mission Launched Successfully

Aiming to take a "billion dreams" to the moon, India Monday successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport here to explore the unchartered south pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.

The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth orbit about 16 minutes later.

The mission's success brought in huge relief for ISRO scientists after the July 15 launch was called off just about an hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket.

The Rs 978 crore mission, that will mark a giant leap in India's space research and make it only the fourth country to have landed a rover on Moon, was rescheduled to Monday after scientists corrected the technical glitch in the three-stage rocket.

In a textbook launch, the towering GSLV-MkIII-M1 lifted off majestically from the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, over 100 km from Chennai, as the Indian Space Research Organisation scientists broke into jubilation.

Scientists led by ISRO chief K Sivan watched the launch sequence in rapt attention and broke into applause after every key stage of the rocket's flight which progressed precisely as programmed.

A visibly relieved Sivan, who announced the success of the mission, said "it is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon."

"We bounced back in flying colours after the earlier technical snag," he said about the glitch that made the space agency reschedule the Chandrayaan-2 launch from July 15 to Monday.

Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till Aug. 29, 2009.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the ISRO team, in a tweet, marking “special moments that will be etched int he annals of our glorious history.”

“The launch of #Chandrayaan2 illustrates the prowess of our scientists and the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science. Every Indian is immensely proud today!”

ISRO Director Kailasavadivoo Sivan announced the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-2 vehicle today, thanking the team of engineers, technicians, supporting staff and everyone else involved for working continuously, especially after the snag last week.

While congratulating the lift-off team, he said the mantle has been passed on to the mission team.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission team will have to do 15 “very crucial maneuvers” in next 1.5 months, finally bringing Chanrayaan-2 around the moon into place. Team ISRO will experience 15-minutes terror on D-Day to ensure landing in the right spot near the moon's South Pole, he added.

After lift-off, the 3,850 kg Chandrayaan-2, comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, will undergo 15 crucial manoeuvres before landing on the Moon, expected by the first week of September, ISRO has said earlier.

About 16:20 minutes after the lift-off, the GSLV rocket is expected to inject Chandrayan-2 into 170 km x 39059 kms Earth orbit.

Then gradually over the next few days it will be brought to 100 X 100 km circular orbit around the moon when the lander will separate and after another few days of orbiting it will make a soft landing at a chosen place on the Lunar surface.

On the day of landing, the lander will perform a series of complex maneuvers comprising of rough braking and fine braking to land near the south pole of the moon on Sep. 7, 2019, according to ISRO.

Subsequently, Rover will roll out and carry out experiments on Lunar surface for a period of 1 Lunar day which is equal to 14 Earth days. The orbiter will continue its mission for a duration of one year.

Source: ISRO, PTI

India's rocket carrying the moon lander and moon rover achieved lift off.

The procedure of filling liquid hydrogen in cryogenic stage of the vehicle was completed around 1:30 p.m., according to ISRO’s twitter feed. Before that, the filling of liquid oxygen in cryogenic stage was completed at around 12:40 p.m.

Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.

"Chandrayaan 2 is ready to take a billion dreams to the Moon now stronger than ever before! Join us for the launch on Monday 22 July, 2019 at 2:43 PM IST," ISRO had tweeted on July 18 while announcing the rescheduled launch.

The 43.43 meter tall three-stage rocket dubbed 'Baahubali' for its ability to carry heavy payloads would blast-off carrying Chandrayaan-2 and inject the spacecraft into Earth orbit about 16 minutes later.

After lift-off, the 3,850 kg Chandrayaan-2, comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, will undergo 15 crucial manoeuvres before landing on the Moon, expected by the first week of September, Sivan said.

Scientists would make soft landing of the lander in the South Pole region of the Moon where no country has gone so far, the ISRO chief said.

Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission undertaken by the ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China.

About 16:20 minutes after the lift-off, the GSLV rocket will inject Chandrayan-2 into 170 km x 39059 kms Earth orbit.

From then onwards, the mission will witness a series of manoeuvres by scientists to carry out different phases of the mission over the next 48 days.

Subsequent to the rescheduling of the launch, the space agency has tweaked the orbital phases, increasing Earth-bound phase to 23 days as against 17 days planned orginally.

At the end of the Earth-bound phase, the orbit of the spacecraft will be finally raised to over 1.05 lakh km before nudging it into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory taking it to the proximity of Moon in the next two days.

Then gradually over the next few days it will be brought to 100 X 100 km circular orbit when the lander will separate and after another few days of orbiting it will make a soft landing at a chosen place on the Lunar surface.

The soft landing of the lander - Vikram carrying rover 'Pragyan', one of the toughest phases of the mission and described by the ISRO chief as "15 minutes of terror (filled moments), would be attempted between Sep. 6-8.

The mission, which carries a total of 13 payloads, including three from the Europe, two from the U.S. and one Bulgaria, seeks to improve understanding of the Moon which could lead to discoveries that will benefit India and humanity as a whole.

A Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) of U.S. space agency NASA is among the payloads and is aimed at understanding dynamics of Earth's Moon system and deriving clues on Lunar interior.

According to ISRO, the lunar South Pole is an interesting surface area which remains in shadow than North pole. There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it, the agency said, adding craters in the South Pole region have cold traps and contain fossil record of the early solar system.

The lander 'Vikram', named after father of Indian space research programme Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, carrying the rover 'Pragyan', will be landed in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degrees South of the moon.

Then the 27-kg 'Pragyan' meaning 'wisdom' in Sanskrit and a six-wheeled robotic vehicle, will set out on its job of collecting information on lunar surface.

A safe site free of hazards for landing would be decided based on pictures sent back by the camera onboard the lander and after touchdown the rover will carry out experiments for 14 Earth days, equals one Lunar Day.

Source: PTI

Chandrayaan-2, originally set to be launched in the early hours of July 18, was cancelled due to a technical snag with 56 minutes left ont he countdown.

A second attempt just days after the failed one is sooner than some experts predicted, underscoring India’s confidence in the project. Another failure would be a further setback to an ambitious plan to become the first nation to land on the south pole of Earth’s closest neighbor, 50 years after man first walked on the moon.

On the eve of launch, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said all preparations were on and the glitch had been rectified.

"Whatever technical snag we observed on July 15 has been rectified. The vehicle is in good health... The (pre-launch) rehearsal has been successfully completed," he told reporters at the Chennai airport on brief a stopover enroute here.

India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 seeking to explore the unchartered Lunar south pole by landing a rover will be launched onboard its most powerful rocket GSLV-MkoIII-M1 from Sriharikota in less than an hour, a week after the lift-off was aborted due to a technical snag.

The Rs 978 crore mission, which has been rescheduled for today will be launched at 2:43 p.m. from the second launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, over 100 km from Chennai.

A 20-hour countdown for the launch began at 6:43 p.m. Sunday.

The launch will be witnessed by nearly 5,000 people who will be accommodated at a viewing gallery, located a few Kilometers from the launch pad, thrown open to the public by the Indian Space Research Organisation in May last.