ISRO postpones Chandrayaan-2 mission launch to the first week of October

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2 which was scheduled to launch on 23 April has now been postponed to October later this year. [caption id=“attachment_4405407” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative Image. Reuters[/caption] The spaceship which is expected to carry a rover to the moon is still being tested and the tests will take longer than expected. K Sivan, the chairman of ISRO, talking to the Times of India, in a report said, “Keeping in mind the complexities involved in the mission as for the first time ISRO is experimenting with an orbiter, a rover and a lander, the panel recommended postponing the launch till we complete all tests and are confident of a perfect mission.” The ISRO chairman stated that it would take the team in-charge an additional 20 days to conclude all necessary tests for the mission because of which the launch date has to be deferred. Explaining why the launch is being postponed to as late as October, Sivan explained, “Unlike, other satellite launches where ISRO could easily defer the launch by a day or two to get a perfect mission, ISRO can’t do the same in this mission. This is because the ideal date for the moon launch comes only once in a month. If we skip that date of the month, we have to plan the launch next month.” Sivan stated that if ISRO launches the **Chandrayaan-2** mission in between May and September, the team, in that case, will not be able to utilise the full lunar day (14 Earth days) for experiments on the moon because of eclipses and other reasons. The launch has been therefore postponed to the first week of October.