The spacecraft was launched on Monday from India’s lone spaceport at Sriharikota on the country's east coast in Andhra Pradesh at 14:43 local time. The most complex space mission India has ever undertaken will be operational for one year.
Chandrayaan-2 will head to the Moon’s South Polar Region, inaugurating India into the select club of nations to complete a landing on the lunar surface, which currently includes: the US, Russia and China. It will be the first space mission to attempt to soft-land the lander –Vikram and rover Pragyan in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degrees south.
Chandrayaan-2 consists of an orbiter, lander and rover; if everything goes according to plan, it will land on the moon following a meticulously planned series of manoeuvres on the 48th day, i.e., 7 September 2019, after covering a distance of about 384,000 km. It is carrying 14 separate equipment packages, which will carry out experiments.
Indians have taken to Twitter to express their joy over the successful launch of the lunar mission.
The 3,850 kg spacecraft was fired using a massive rocket, the GSLV Mark III; the launch will consist of two stages and be followed by a sub-orbital flight. The rocket is India’s most powerful launch vehicle to date and was designed and fabricated completely within India.