Chennai, July 21 (UNI) The stage is set for India's second lunar
mission, when Chandrayaan-2, carrying an Orbiter, Lander (Vikram)
and Rover (Pragyan), take to skies tomorrow from the SHAR Range
at Sriharikota, commencing its 3.844 lakh km, month long journey
for a soft landing on the Moon's South Pole.
Weighing 3,850 kg, the launch of Chandrayaan-2, would take place
from the Second Launch Pad at 1443 on Monday afternoon when the
43.43m tall heaviest home grown rocket, Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV MkIII-M1), capable of launching
4-ton class of satellites to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO),
lifts off from the spaceport.
ISRO sources said the Launch rehearsal has been completed and
much to their delight the performance was normal.
After a meeting of the Launch Authorisation Board and Mission
Readiness Review Committee, the countdown for the launch would
begin.
The launch was earlier scheduled on July 15, but was deferred an
hour before the take off due to a technical snag in the launch vehicle.
On July 18, ISRO announced that the expert committee identified the
root cause of the technical snag and all corrective actions implemented.
'Thereafter, the system performance is normal and Chandrayaan-2
launch is now rescheduled for July 22 at 1443 hrs', it said.
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