New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has claimed that it has saved $120 million in public money in the upcoming moon mission "Chandrayaan-2," which is expected to be launched in October-November this year.
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"The total cost of the mission is about INR 800 crore ($124 million), which includes INR 200 crore ($31 million) as the cost of launching and INR 600 crore ($93 million) for the satellite. This cost is almost half of $232 million, which would have been otherwise incurred if the same mission had to be launched from a foreign launching site," K. Sivan, the ISRO chairman, said during his discussion with India's Minister of State for Space Jitendra Singh on Wednesday.
The ISRO had planned the launch of the mission for April but, in the review, it was decided that more tests were needed to be done before the launch.
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"This will be the first-of-its-kind moon mission to this extent," Sivan emphasized.
The ISRO launched its first moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, in October 2008. After going around the Moon 10 times, the Chandrayaan-1 was the first to declare to the world the presence of frozen water on the Moon.