India’s Chandrayaan 2 successfully launched!

Chandrayaan 2, India’s second mission to Moon, has been successfully launched through GSLV-Mk0III-M1 rocket by ISRO at 2.43pm today(July 22) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

The launch was earlier scheduled for July 15. But due to technical reasons, the plan was aborted 56 minutes before the end of the countdown. After a quick remedial action by the team, the re-launch was planned.

The countdown for today’s launch began around 6.43pm yesterday. The Rs 978 crore mission’s objective is to trace the location and abundance of water across the unexplored Lunar South Pole. Chandrayaan 2 carries with it an Orbiter, a Lander named Vikram and a Rover named Pragyan. Rover will perform on-site chemical analysis on the lunar surface and the data regarding the same will be directed to the Earth by  Orbiter and Lander.

Following the launch, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, "Special moments that will be etched in the annals of our glorious history! The launch of Chandrayaan 2 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!"   

Chandrayaan 1 carried billions of Indian dreams to the Moon for the first time in 2008. Now, the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2 has made India the fourth country to achieve soft landing on the Moon and also the first country to land on the Lunar South Pole.