The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has canceled its 2nd moon mission launch due to a “technical snag” found in the vehicle.
The mission was supposed to launch the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft onboard a GSLVMkIII-M1 rocket to space at around 02:51 AM IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota Range) in Chennai, India.
ISRO confirmed the cancellation of the launch via Twitter:
“A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today.”
The space agency is yet to announce a new launch date for the mission. According to ISRO’s press relations officer Shri Guru Prasad, the technical issue was discovered at T-56 minute into the launch. The mission has a 10-minute launch window. However, Guru Prasad claimed that it’s impossible to meet the schedule.
“It is not possible to make the launch within the launch window. Next launch schedule will be announced later.”
India’s Moon Mission
The Chandrayaan-2 moon mission was announced June last year by ISRO. It’s India’s first attempt to send a rover to the surface of the moon to explore its south side.
Unlike other moon missions, the Chandrayaan-2 mission aims to find not just water on our closest celestial neighbor, but also helium-3. The latter is an isotope essential in fusion energy development.
ISRO’s chairman, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, was quoted as saying then:
“The countries which have the capacity to bring that source from the moon to Earth will dictate the process. I don’t want to be just a part of them, I want to lead them.”
Should the launch of Chandrayaan-2 mission pushes through and succeeds in the future, it would make India the 4th country to land a rover on the moon. Aside from sending a rover to the less-explored south pole region of the moon, the Indian space agency is also planning a crewed space mission by 2022.
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