Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has called off for today the launch of India’s second mission to Moon – Chandrayaan-2 onboard GSLV MkIII-M1 due to a technical snag. The countdown for the launch scheduled for 2.51 AM was stopped 56 minutes and 24 seconds before lift-off following the announcement from the Mission Control Centre. ISRO Associate Director (Public Relations), BR Guruprasad said, a technical snag was observed in the launch vehicle system. He said, revised launch date will be announced later.
The lift-off of the three-component spacecraft comprising an orbiter, the lander and the rover was scheduled from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. President Ram Nath Kovind was in Sriharikota to witness the launch. The Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to explore the uncharted lunar south pole, 11 years after ISRO’s successful first lunar mission – Chandrayaan-1.
Chandrayaan-2 onboard the heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle GSLV-MkIII-M1, nicknamed Baahubali, would have taken 54 days to accomplish the task of landing on the Moon. Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by the ISRO since its inception, Chandrayaan-2 would make India the fourth country to soft-land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the US and China.