India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-2 lifted off from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) at 2.43 pm on Monday.
ISRO’s scientists had only a one-minute window for the second launch attempt. Last week, the mission was called off 56 minutes before its scheduled launch time, citing a technical glitch.
“I am extremely happy to announce that GSLV Mark 3 successfully injected the Chandrayaan 2 into orbit… It is the beginning of a historical journey for India… We fixed a serious technical snag and ISRO bounced back with flying colours,” ISRO Chairman K Sivan announced happily.
The GSLV Mark 3 rocket, also known as ‘Baahubali’ rocket, is a powerful 640-tonne one. It is 44 metres long or as tall as a 15-storey building.
The Rs 1,000-crore mission began on Sunday evening at 6.43 pm.
The rocket then launched an orbiter, a lander ‘Vikram’ and a Moon rover ‘Pragyaan’. The lander will separate and move towards a less-explored region of the Moon.
If Chandrayaan-2 successfully lands on the Moon, India will be the fourth country after US, Russia and China to do a soft landing.
