ISRO to launch Chadrayaan-2 by 2016

The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) plans to launch India's mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2, by 2016, which would include an orbiter, lander and rover, according to an Isro spokesperson.

Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan had earlier said  that the space agency would launch Chandrayaan-2 by 2016-17, PTI reported.

An Isro spokesperson said Isro aimed to demonstrate its capability to soft-land on the lunar surface with this mission.

Included in the broad objectives of the mission would be the extension of scientific experiments carried out by Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon which included a lunar orbiter and impacter.

Last year, scientists had announced that using data from instruments aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, they had uncovered evidence of water locked in mineral grains on the moon's surface.

The Isro spokesperson had said, Chandrayaan-2 would be launched by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, (GSLV) powered by an indigenously developed cryogenic engine.I

India became a full-fledged member of the elite global space league after it put the 1982-kg GSAT -14 communication  satellite into perfect orbit with the help of  its  'geosynchronous  satellite launch vehicle' (GSLV) rocket powered by an indigenous  cryogenic engine.

The satellite was injected into orbit after a flight of only 1000 seconds by GSLV rocket, which heralded India's entry into the cryogenic club that had so far included only the US, Russia, Japan, France  and China.

According to commentators, this was a brilliant demonstration of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) capability in cryogenic technology - a crucial element in building more powerful launch vehicles.

Following a protracted history of two decades of effort, India had finally successfully launched an indigenous cryogenic engine to launch a GSLV rocket.

This success augurs well for India's future projects including Chandrayan-2, say scientists. With this success, India has now gained the capability of sending satellites weighing over two tonnes into orbit.

The story of India's struggle to develop the crucial cryogenic engines goes back to 1991 when it was due to receive the technology from the Soviet Union, which collapsed the same year, following the disintegration of the USSR.

The USSR was to have provided three cryogenic engines to India under the deal and transfer the crucial technology. 

But Russia under Boris Yeltsin, who came to power after the disintegration of the former USSR, under US pressure, refused to honour the agreement that stipulated selling the engines and transfer of the technology to India.