India is ready to take up its second mission to the moon – Chandrayaan 2 – in a joint venture with Russia.
However, it is waiting for a final word from Russia, which is reviewing its space mission programme after the recent failure of inter-planetary mission with China, said K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
For Chandrayaan 2, Russia will provide the lander while India will build the lunar orbiter and rover.
“We hope to hear on the review from Russia in a couple of months,” he told newspersons after the successful launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C21.
“We are possibly ready to launch Chandrayaan 2 in 2014,” he said dismissing reports that the programme could be delayed to 2016.
The Chandrayaan 2 is planned for 2014 with India’s heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), he said.
Mars mission
On the mission to Mars next year, Radhakrishnan said that India was not in race with China on this. “We have our own learning from the mission,” he told newspersons after the successful launch of PSLV-C21. “It (Mars) is a challenging mission where we will develop new technologies.”
The Union Cabinet recently cleared ISRO’s mission to Mars.
The project, which comes close on the heels of the Chandrayaan mission to the moon, envisages putting a spacecraft in the red planet’s orbit to study its atmosphere, with the help of the PSLV.
The launch is slated for November next year from the Sriharikota range, 80 km north off Chennai. The Space Commission gave its clearance for the mission in December last. The spacecraft will have a scientific payload of 25 kg and is proposed to be placed in an orbit of 500x80,000 km around the planet. This will be a major milestone in the country's space programme, he said.