Chandrayaan 2 launch: Highlights

Chandrayaan-2 was successfully set in orbit after its historical launch on July 22, 2019, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. India’s second unmanned mission to moon -- Chandrayaan 2 -- was set to take off on 15 July, but, less than an hour to launch, a technical snag was observed in the launch vehicle system and ISRO called it off as a measure of abundant precaution. It was later rescheduled to July 22.

ISRO's Chandrayaan-2: All you need to know

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 (Moon Chariot 2) aka Baahubali, with onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-mark III-M1), launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota,Andhra Pradesh, on July 22, 2019.

Read More to see the highlights of the historical liftoff.

PM Modi watches the glorious lift off.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi:Indian at heart, Indian in spirit!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his special moments and thanksChandrayaan, as India’s Lunar Programme will now get a substantial boost.

Indian Cricketers wish ISRO

Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan on Chandrayaan-2

Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao congratulates ISRO

Bollywood director Karan Johar calls out 'Girl Power'

Google India 'emotes' on the launch.

Here is the live feed from ISRO

The launch will take place at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman compliments ISRO

The US embassy wishes ISRO

Virendra Sewag congratulates ISRO

BJP tweets

President congratulates ISRO

President of India Ram Nath Kovind tweeted congratulating ISRO.

Vice President congratulates ISRO

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu tweeted saying that the successfullanding of Chandrayaan-2, an indigenously developed Spacecraft launched by India’s most powerful rocket- GSLV MKIII on the moon in a few weeks will make India the 4th country to do so.

Carrying a billion dreams to the moon..

Chandrayaan-2 lifted off from the second launch pad at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSP) here, 100 kms from Chennai, on Monday afternoon.

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Dr Harsh Vardhan calls the launch "a big leap for ISRO and India"

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, tweeted sayingcongratulatingISRO and Hon’ble PM Narendra Modifor today’s Chandrayaan 2 launch.

Dr K Sivan speaks.

Dr K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO salutes the expert team who worked tirelessly for a week to make the launch a success.

The historical success

ISRO says that GSLVMkIII-M1 successfully injects Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft into Earth Orbit.

Hardeep Singh Puri says today is a proud day for every Indian.

India’s Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Civil AviationHardeep Singh Puri tweeted that the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2 reinforces India's prowess as a global space power.

Chandrayaan 2 in GTO orbit succesfully

Satellite is separated from the cryogenic stage.Chandrayaan 2 in GTO orbit successfully, saving fuel as well.

The satellite will be sending his signal shortly.

Tejasvi Surya thanks ISRO

Bengaluru MP andGeneral Secretary of the BJP Youth Wing, Karnataka, Tejasvi Surya tweeted saying "Scientists & Engineers at ISRO have time & again made India proud with their technological brilliance."

Piyush Goyal congratulates ISRO

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted congratulating"ISRO and its women led team that made the ambitious moon mission #Chandrayaan2 launch a reality."

GSLVMkIII-M1 lifts-off from Sriharikota carrying Chandrayaan2

ISRO's Baahubali has a successful liftoff.

India's prestigious Chandrayaan 2 has set off its grand voyage towards the Moon.

L-10 has started and is progressing with a normal performance.

T minus 30 seconds

The upper altitude are also favorable this time.

The launch was called off last time due to a technical snag.

T minus 4 minutes.

Former Chairmen AS Kiran Kumar and K Radhakrishnan are present to witness the launch as well.

T minus 8 minutes

The GSLV Launch pad is undergoing final checks.

Chandrayaan 2 will help to attempt to answer questions on the yet unexplored lunar surface and open up possibilities of using the Moon as a platform for further exploration of the solar system and beyond

T minus 15 minutes.

ISRO scientists are gearing up to ensure a smooth lift-off.

This is going to be the second attempt at launching the mission, after it had to be aborted the first time on July 15 owing to a 'techincal snag'.

Dr. K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO, Secretary of DOS says

Dr. K Sivan says, "Chandrayaan 2 is the next leap in technology, as we attempt to soft-land close to south pole of Moon."

Less than an hour to go!

ISRO has tweeted their official youtube live feed links to view the launchfrom the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The final touches have been applied

With less than two hours to go, the filling of liquid oxygen in Cryogenic Stage(C25) of GSLVMkIII-M1 is completed and filling of liquid hydrogen is in progress, says ISRO

Some exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of how Chandrayaan 2 was built

Filling of Liquid Hydrogen for the Cryogenic Stage(C25) of GSLVMkIII-M1 is ongoing in readiness for the Chandrayaan 2 launch, updates will continue; says ISRO

Why haven’t people been to the moon again?

After 1972, the Superpowers and the world lost interest in the moon, whereas it should have only grown. The lull continued for five decades. Still, the handful of robotic missions to our cosmic neighbour have revealed valuable insights: a geological potential that can be harnessed; proximity that offers scope for a space stopover, and a perfect spot for unhindered astronomical observations. So, despite a wealth of opportunities, why haven’t more people been to the moon?

Read more

Hope, ambition soar at Sriharikota

Navigating large distances accurately, preventing damage due to ‘lunar’ dust, conducting Trans Lunar Injection and the soft-landing pose huge risks for Chandrayaan 2's Vikram. But if it succeeds, India will emerge as the fourth nation to accomplish the soft-landing mission after the United States, Russia and China.

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With less than five hours to go for the launch, the filling of Liquid Oxygen for the Cryogenic Stage(C25) of GSLVMkIII-M1 has commenced, the ISRO says

Chandrayaan 2: The cost involved

India has spent about $144 million to get Chandrayaan-2 ready for the 384,400-km trip to the landing spot on the lunar South Pole on September 6.

In comparison, the US has spent about $25 billion on 15 Apollo missions, including the six that put Armstrong and other astronauts on the moon. China, which landed its Chang'e 4 lunar craft in January, spent $8.4 billion on its entire space programme in 2017, according to international Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development figures.

Meanwhile, Russia -- the first country to land an unmanned moon rocket in 1966 -- spent over $20 billion at today's values on lunar missions in the 1960s and 70s.

Watch Sri P Kunnikrishnan, Director URSC, ISRO talk about the complexities and challenges in developing Chandrayaan 2, the most advanced spacecraft by India yet

Chandrayaan 2 objective

The solar-powered rover can travel up to 500 metres and is expected to work for one lunar day, the equivalent of 14 Earth days.

ISRO chief K Sivan said Vikram's 15-minute final descent "will be the most terrifying moments as we have never undertaken such a complex mission". Sivan said the probe will be looking for signs of water and "a fossil record of the early solar system".

Chandrayaan 2 launch: What it means for India

India’s set to become the fourth country to join space race by launching a low-cost mission to land a probe on the moon.

The Chandrayaan 2 will blast off from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, a tropical island off Andhra Pradesh coast, after a 10-year-long build-up. The mission will showcase mankind’s progress in space travel since Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 mission, which only celebrated its 50th anniversary a couple of days back.

ISRO Chandrayaan 2: Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, lander and rover havebeen designed and made in India, and it will use its most powerful rocket launcher, GSLV Mk III, to carry the 2.4 tonne orbiter. With Chandrayaan-2, India will continue its search for water on the lunar surface after Chandrayaan-1 in 2009 made the breakthrough of discovering the presence of water molecules on the Moon's surface.