Chennai: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the next launch in the last week of March, Isro chairman K.Sivan told reporters here on Sunday. He said India’s second mission to the moon Chandrayaan-2 is likely to be launched in April or October as still tests are going on the mission.
“It is not like other missions where the launch date can be pushed by few days to conduct some more tests. Here the spacecraft needs to land on a specific spot on the moon to do the studies. We will launch the GSAT-6A communication satellite with GSLV-Mk-II rocket. Within weeks we are planning to launch navigation replacement satellite IRNSS-1I satellite with PSLV rocket,” K.Sivan said.
Isro officials said. Chandrayaan-2 consists of an orbiter with one-year mission span, a lander and a rover that can operate for 14 to 15 days on the lunar surface. After reaching the lunar orbit, the Lander housing the rover will separate from the orbiter. After a controlled descent, the lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy the rover.
Sivan also said the ISRO was working on developing a mobile application for the benefit of fishermen. “We are working on the app (application). It will inform fishermen where large quantities of fish are available. It will also give them messages about the conditions of the sea. It is in production mode (currently),” he said. In January, the ISRO successfully launched PSLV-C40 carrying Cartosat-2 Series satellite from the spaceport of Sriharikota about 110 km from here.
