New Delhi: After witnessing several hiatuses over the recent past, India’s second mission to the moon – Chandrayaan 2 is now all set to be launched in July, this year. According to a recent update by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which had initially planned to launch the mission last year in April, all the modules for the mission would be ready in the next two months. After finalising the launch window, ISRO finally announced that Chandrayaan-2 has got a launch window and is scheduled to take off between July 9 to 16, with an expected landing on the moon by September 6.

"We are ready for one of the most exciting missions, #Chandrayaan2. Launch window between July 9-16 & likely Moon-landing on Sept 6, 2019. #GSLVMKIII will carry 3 modules of this #lunarmission - Orbiter, Lander (Vikram), Rover (Pragyan). More Updates Soon," read a tweet from ISRO's official handle.


As per initial reports, the Chandrayaan-2 mission will be launched using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III (GSLV Mk III) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft is expected to take 35 to 45 days to reach the Moon after the launch. This second and the most awaited mission to the moon will have an orbiter, a rover and a lander. All the modules are getting ready for the launch by the Indian space organisation.

Chandrayaan-2 would land on the southern pole of the moon. The portion of India’s natural satellite has not been explored much before by any of the countries in the world. What makes the mission more historic is the fact that landing of the craft near the lunar south-pole would give ISRO the opportunity to name that site on the moon.

Wary of failure after Israel's unsuccessful attempt to land on Moon, Chandrayaan-2 mission was further postponed by ISRO in April 2019. There were also reports of the Moon Mission's lander facing minor damage, but the official did not comment on it. “We saw Israel's example and we don't want to take any risk. Despite Israel being such a technologically advanced country, the mission failed. We want the mission to be a success, an ISRO official had told PTI.

The launch of India's Moon mission was scheduled in April but it was postponed after Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashed during moon landing early this month. The ambitious mission was a first for a private effort.