India's second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-II, will be launched on July 15 at 2.51 am, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said here on Wednesday.
"In future, the nation will depend more on planetary missions. After Chandrayaan I mission, we are now entering into Chandrayaan II mission. We had slipped many times but now it will be launched on July 15 at 2.51 am," he told a press conference here.
"The day we are going to land is either September 6 or September 7, that day happens to be the beginning of a lunar day. For one full lunar day, the lander & rover will be functioning & carry out scientific experiments," he added.
Chandryaan-2 will explore a region of moon where no mission has ever set foot. The ISRO chief said the landing site, at about 70 degrees south latitude, is the southernmost for any mission till date. No country has attempted this before.
"The cost of Chandrayaan II Mission, mainly the satellite portion, including the support from foreign agencies as well as for navigation purpose, is Rs. 603 crore," he said.
Sivan said that it will be launched using Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).
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Chandrayaan-II consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover together referred to as "composite body". The total mass of Chandrayaan 2 system is 3.8 ton; out of 3.8 ton, nearly 1.3 ton is the propeller.
"Within 15 minutes GSLV Mk III will inject the composite body in the extrinsic orbit," he said. During the next 16 days, there will be five burns using propellants. He said that the trans-lunar burn will be an important manoeuvre as it will put the trajectory of the composite body towards the moon.
"Composite Body will be travelling for 5 days from near earth to near moon covering 3.8 lakh Km distance and reach near the moon," he said.
"Again a retro-burn will happen and Composite Body will be established in the orbit of the moon ," said Chairman.
"At an appropriate time, the lander will separate from the orbiter and lander will be set in action, using propulsion system to reduce its orbit and will stay for 4 days," Dr Sivan said.