Chandrayaan 2 LIVE: GSLV MkIII-M1 / Chandryaan 2 vehicle night view at the Second Launch Pad | Image: ISRO 
Key Highlights
- Chandrayaan 2 will be India’s second mission to space after the Chandrayaan 1 mission which was conducted in 2008
- This time the Chandrayaan 2 mission will be carrying an orbiter, lander, and rover to explore the surface of the moon
- The mission success will put India on the prestigious map of countries who have already sent missions to the Moon
- The Chandrayaan 2 mission contains all indigenous equipment, i.e., which has been made in India.
The Chandrayaan 2 mission has been called off owing to technical difficulties which were spotted in the launch vehicle. ISRO has already put out a tweet stating that new launch dates will be announced. The Chandrayaan 2 was scheduled to launch at 2:51 AM IST and was taking off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota located in Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian space agency ISRO would have launched the indigenously made GSLV Mk III launch vehicle into space which will carry with it a lander named Vikram, rover called Pragyan and an orbiter which will be deployed on the surface of the moon in September later this year.
While similar missions have been carried out in the past by other space agencies such as NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos, India’s lunar mission is unique as it attempts to unravel the mysteries of the dark side of the Moon.
And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon! – Speak to Me by Pink Floyd from the album Dark Side Of The Moon
Chandrayaan 2 launch LIVE Updates @ 2:45am:
ISRO officially announces the Chandrayaan 2 launch has been suspended indefinitely. According to ISRO’s Twitter post, a technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at T-56 minute. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today. The revised launch date will be announced later.
Chandrayaan 2 launch LIVE Updates @ 2:25am: Launch has been delayed due to snag, ISRO to announce new launch time shortly. Stay tuned. The countdown has been stopped and a new schedule will be soon drawn up as ISRO scientists raced against time to repair the snag. More information from ISRO is expected at this point. ISRO to have a press conference shortly to announce new timelines.
Chandrayaan 2 launch LIVE Updates @ 2:00am: Filling of Liquid Hydrogen in Cryogenic stage of GSLVMkIII-M1 completed.
Chandrayaan 2 launch LIVE Updates @ 1:00am: Filling of liquid oxygen in the cryogenic stage of GSLV-Mk III has been completed and filling of liquid Hydrogen is in process.
The Chandrayaan 2 mission will see GSLV Mk III launch vehicle carry three modules into space which consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The lander has been named Vikram after Vikram Sarabhai who is the father of the Indian space program, while the rover is called Pragyan. The rover Pragyan will be housed inside lander Vikram and will be deployed after Vikram lands on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to launch at 2:51 am IST and the launch will take off from Sriharikota.
Chandrayaan 2 will explore the topography of the moon and its composition and will search for water besides conducting in-situ studies. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota onboard heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – Mark III (GSLV Mk III), nicknamed ‘Bahubali’, at 2.51 am on July 15. The Lander, Vikram, will land near the South Pole of the Moon on September 6.
The report further states that the Rover will roll out and carry out experiments on the lunar surface for a period of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 Earth days. The Orbiter will continue its mission for one year.
The Orbiter payloads will conduct remote-sensing observations from a 100 km orbit while the Lander and Rover payloads will perform in-situ measurements near the landing site.
It’s time to make history!
