ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 Mission: Launch Delayed for Second Time in a Year, Israel Likely to Be Benefited
Reports inform that Israel seeks to launch its moon probe, Sparrow, in December this year through a non-profit company called SpaceIL. With this, it will be a race between Israel and India for the fourth position in the world to soft-land on the moon.
Mumbai, August 5: Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar mission has been postponed for the second time in a year! The launch which was earlier scheduled for April was later postponed to October and now even further. As per top officials of ISRO, the launch will take place no sooner than January 2019. It must be noted that Israel too is planning to launch a moon mission in December. Reports inform that US, Russia and China have been able to soft-land their spacecraft on the mission’s surface so far.
The launch of Chandrayaan-2 will be ISRO’s first time attempt to land a rover on the Moon. The mission was first planned in April and then was postponed to October. According to reports, Israel seeks to launch its moon probe, Sparrow, in December 2018 through a non-profit company called SpaceIL. With this, it will be a race between Israel and India for the fourth position in the world to soft-land on the moon.
The delay on India’s end may now give Israel an opportunity to edge past India with its moon landing. According to a PTI report, the postponement of the ambitious mission from October comes in the wake of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facing two setbacks in less than a year.
Earlier this year, the ISRO had launched GSAT-6A, a military communication satellite, but lost communication with it. Following this, the ISRO also recalled the launch of GSAT-11 from Kourou, French Guiana, for additional technical checks. In September 2017, the PSLV- C39 mission, carrying the IRNSS-1H navigation satellite, failed after the heat shield refused to open and release the satellite, a report by PTI informed.
The rover of India’s second lunar mission, costing nearly Rs 800 crore, will be made to land near the yet-unexplored south pole. In April, ISRO Chairman K Sivan informed the government about the postponement of the launch to October-November. A national-level committee to review Chandrayaan-2 recommended some additional tests before the mission could take off.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 05, 2018 08:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).