New Delhi, April 19: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday informed that India’s second moon mission- Chandrayaan-2, which was scheduled for this month, has been postponed to later this year, ISRO chief K Sivan informed the government that Chandrayaan-2 launch has been postponed to October-November this year.

Chandrayaan-2 will be equipped with a lander and rover probe which will descend on the surface of the moon from where it will observe the lunar surface and send back data which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil.

The ISRO Chief informed that 'Chandrayaan-2' is likely to cost Rs 800 crore which includes Rs 200 crore for launching and Rs 600 crore for the satellite. During a meeting, Sivan briefed Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office on the upcoming Chandrayaan-2 mission, expected to be launched from Sriharikota around October-November this year, an official statement said. According to reports by PTI, a national level committee to review Chandrayaan-2 recommended some additional tests before the mission could take off.

Sources aware of the development said that this has been done to exercise caution as Chandrayaan-2 will be ISRO's first inter-planetary mission to land a rover on any celestial body. Another ISRO Mission, GSLV Mk III-D2, scheduled for June-July this year was also discussed during the meeting.

Jitendra Singh appreciated the fact that the Chandrayaan-2 mission is not only cost-effective but also "totally indigenous in its expertise, manufacturing and material".  India's first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, launched on October 22, 2008, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre near Chennai, was also accomplished in a cost-effective manner. Chandrayaan-1 Project Director Mayilsamy Annadurai was quoted by a news organisation in 2011 as saying that of the Rs 386 crore earmarked for the project, Rs 82 lakh had been saved.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 19, 2018 09:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).