Chandrayaan-2 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on-board GSLV Mk-III today (22nd July, 2019) at 2:43 pm. It was injected into an earth parking 170 X 40,400 km precise orbit. A series of manoeuvres will be carried out in the next couple of days to raise its orbit and put Chandrayaan-2 on Lunar Transfer Trajectory orbit. On entering Moon's sphere of influence, on-board thrusters will slow down the spacecraft for Lunar capture.

The previous launch suffered a jolt in the early hours of July 15 after a technical snag forced the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to call off the launch for the time being.

The Orbit of Chandrayaan-2 around the moon will be circularised to 100 X 100 km orbit through a series of orbital manoeuvres. On the day of landing, the lander will separate from the Orbiter and then perform a series of complex manoeuvres comprising of rough braking and fine braking. Imaging of the landing site region prior to landing will be done for finding safe and hazard-free zones.


The lander-Vikram will finally land near South Pole of the moon on 6th September 2019. 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. Orbiter will continue its mission for a duration of one year.

The Chandrayaan-2 launch took place in the same week as the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which placed humans on the Moon for the first time. On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft blasted off into space. Four days later on July 20, the Apollo 11 craft landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin -- both American astronauts -- made history by becoming the first men to walk on the Moon.

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