ISRO announcement highlights: Chandrayaan-2 to launch mid-April, reusable launch vehicle to be tested

ISRO plans to invest time & money in developing tech for the Gaganyaan 2020 mission this year.

Tech2 News Staff|Jan 11, 2019, 13:32:18 IST

LIVE UPDATES from ISRO's briefing about Chandrayaan-2 and other important space missions in 2019.The Indian Space Research Organisation has called a briefing to share progress and what could be a save-the-date for India's second mission to explore the moon, Chandrayaan-2.The mission has seen three delays since its original March 2018 launch already, with a fourth looking very likely according to a recent report in the Times of India.[caption id="attachment_5877071" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

ISRO Chairman K Shivan (right) at ISRO HQ. Image: tech2/Kavya N[/caption]That said, if a delay is likely, ISRO could have good, strategic reasons for it this time. After China succeeded in making a historic landing of its Chang'e-4 rover on the moon's far side on 3 January, many similarities between Chang'e-4 and Chandrayaan-2 became apparent. While the missions differ in their instruments and design, they do share many of the same core objectives and are surveying areas of the moon that aren't too far away from each other.Considering the tough competition between the Indian and Chinese space programs, any further delays could be ISRO's way of keeping things interesting and breaking new ground. The Rs-800 crore Chandrayaan-2 mission comes ten years after ISRO's first probe to the moon.[caption id="attachment_5421961" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

The Chandrayaan-2 Rover during a mobility test. Image courtesy: ISRO[/caption]Chandrayaan-1 discovered the first evidence of water on the moon, putting ISRO on the world map as a worthy contended in space exploration. In the years to come, ISRO also plans to explore Earth's near neighbours: a second orbiter to study Mars (Mangalyaan-2) and an orbiter and balloon to explore Venus (in Shukrayan-1).In 2019 alone, ISRO has 32 missions on the cards, including a test demonstration of a whole new breed of ISRO rocket – the SSLV, or the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. Once complete and tested, this will be the world's cheapest and lightest launch rocket for small satellites.The agency also plans to invest a sizeable part of its Rs 9,000-crore budget and its time towards the Gaganyaan mission this year, putting together rockets and life support systems in preparation for two test flights in 2020.ISRO's Chairman, Dr K Sivan, is expected to share updates on where Chandrayaan-2 stands and what we can expect from the other 31 missions over the remaining months of 2019.

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