Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 (candra-yāna,
transl. "mooncraft";
pronunciation (help·info)) is the
second lunar exploration mission
developed by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-
1. As of September 2019, it consists of a
lunar orbiter, and also included the
Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar
rover, all of which were developed in
India. The main scientific objective is to
map and study the variations in lunar
surface composition, as well as the
location and abundance of lunar water.
 Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 composite

Mission type Lunar orbiter, lander,

rover

Operator Indian Space

Research
Organisation (ISRO)

COSPAR ID 2019-042A

SATCAT no. 44441

Website www.isro.gov.in
/chandrayaan2-
home-0

Mission duration Orbiter: ~ 7 years

Elapsed:
11 months, 5 days
Vikram lander: ≤ 14
days
(planned);[1][2]
Achieved: 0 days
(landing failure)
Pragyan rover: ≤ 14
days (planned);[2]
Achieved: 0 days
(landing failure)

Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Indian Space
Research
Organisation (ISRO)
Launch mass Combined (wet):
3,850 kg
(8,490 lb)[3][4][5]
Combined (dry):
1,308 kg (2,884 lb)[6]
Orbiter (wet):
2,379 kg
(5,245 lb)[4][5]
Orbiter (dry): 682 kg
(1,504 lb)[6]
Vikram lander (wet):
1,471 kg
(3,243 lb)[4][5]
Vikram lander (dry):
626 kg (1,380 lb)[6]
 Pragyan rover: 27 kg
(60 lb)[4][5]

Power Orbiter: 1 kW

(1.3 hp)[7]

Vikram lander: 650

W[8]

Pragyan rover: 50
W[8]

Start of mission

Launch date 22 July 2019,

14:43:12 IST
(09:13:12 UTC)[9]

Rocket GSLV Mark III

M1[10][11]
Launch site Satish Dhawan
Space Centre
Second Launch Pad
Contractor Indian Space
Research
Organisation (ISRO)

Moon orbiter

Orbital insertion 20 August 2019,

09:02 IST (03:32
UTC)[12][13]

Orbital parameters

Pericynthion altitude 100 km (62 mi)[14]

Apocynthion altitude 100 km (62 mi)[14]

Moon lander

Spacecraft Rover
component
Landing date 7 September 2019,
01:53 IST (failure)
(6 September 2019,
20:23 UTC)[13][15]
Landing site Lunar south pole
(intended)

Chandrayaan programme
 

The spacecraft was launched on its

mission to the Moon from the second
launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre in Andhra Pradesh on 22 July
2019 at 2.43 p.m. IST (09:13 UTC) by a
GSLV Mark III M1. The craft reached the
Moon's orbit on 20 August 2019 and
began orbital positioning manoeuvres
for the landing of the Vikram lander. The
lander and the rover were scheduled to
land on the near side of the Moon, in the
south polar region at a latitude of about
70° south on 6 September 2019 and
conduct scientific experiments for one
lunar day, which approximates to two
Earth weeks. A successful soft landing
would have made India the fourth
country after the Soviet Union, United
States and China to do so.

However, the lander deviated from its

intended trajectory while attempting to
land on 6 September 2019 which caused
a 'hard landing'. According to a failure
analysis report submitted to ISRO, the
crash was caused by a software glitch.
ISRO may re-attempt a landing by the
second quarter of 2021 with
Chandrayaan-3.

History
On 12 November 2007, representatives
of the Roscosmos and ISRO signed an
agreement for the two agencies to work
together on the Chandrayaan-1's follow-
up project, Chandrayaan-2.[16][17] ISRO
would have the prime responsibility for
the orbiter and rover, while Roscosmos
was to provide the lander. The Indian
government approved the mission in a
meeting of the Union Cabinet, held on 18
September 2008 and chaired by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.[18] The
design of the spacecraft was completed
in August 2009, with scientists of both
countries conducting a joint
review.[19][20]

Although ISRO finalised the payload for

Chandrayaan-2 on schedule,[21] the
mission was postponed in January 2013
and rescheduled to 2016 because
Russia was unable to develop the lander
on time.[22][23][24] In 2012, there was a
delay in the construction of the Russian
lander for Chandrayaan-2 due of the
failure of the Fobos-Grunt mission to
Mars, since the technical issues
connected with the Fobos-Grunt mission
which were also used in the lunar
projects including the lander for
Chandrayaan-2 needed to be
reviewed.[23] When Russia cited its
inability to provide the lander even by
2015, India decided to develop the lunar
mission independently.[22][25]

The spacecraft's launch had been

scheduled for March 2018 initially after
the India's decision, but was first delayed
to April and then to October to conduct
further tests on the vehicle.[26][27] On 19
June 2018, after the program's fourth
Comprehensive Technical Review
meeting, a number of changes in
configuration and landing sequence
were planned for implementation,
pushing the launch to the first half of
2019.[28] Two of the lander's legs
received minor damage during one of
the tests in February 2019.[29]

Chandrayaan-2 launch was scheduled

for 14 July 2019, 21:21 UTC (15 July 2019
at 02:51 IST local time), with the landing
expected on 6 September 2019.[30]
However, the launch was aborted due to
a technical glitch and was
rescheduled.[9][31][32] The launch
occurred on 22 July 2019 at 09:13 UTC
(14:43 IST) on the first operational flight
of a GSLV MK III M1.[33]

On 6 September 2019, the lander during

its landing phase, deviated from its
intended trajectory starting at 2.1
kilometres (1.3 mi) altitude,[34] and had
lost communication when touchdown
confirmation was expected.[35][36] Initial
reports suggesting a crash[37][38] were
confirmed by ISRO chairman K. Sivan,
stating that "it must have been a hard
landing".[39] The Failure Analysis
Committee concluded that the crash
was caused by a software glitch.[40]
Unlike ISRO's previous record, the report
of the Failure Analysis Committee has
not been made public.[41]

Objectives
The primary objectives of the
Chandrayaan-2 lander were to
demonstrate the ability to soft-land and
operate a robotic rover on the lunar
surface.

The scientific goals of the orbiter are:

 to study lunar topography, mineralogy,
elemental abundance, the lunar
exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl
and water ice[42][43]
to study the water ice in the south
polar region and thickness of the lunar
regolith on the surface[44]
to map the lunar surface and help to
prepare 3D maps of it

Design
The name Chandrayaan means
"mooncraft" in Sanskrit and Hindi.[45][46]
The mission was launched on a
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) M1 with an
approximate lift-off mass of 3,850 kg
(8,490 lb) from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre on Sriharikota Island of Andhra
Pradesh.[3][11][14][47] As of June 2019, the
mission has an allocated cost of ₹
9.78 billion (approximately
US$141 million) which includes ₹ 6 billion
for the space segment and ₹ 3.75 billion
as launch costs on GSLV Mk III M1.[48][49]
Chandrayaan-2 stack was initially put in
an Earth parking orbit of 170 kilometres
(110 mi) perigee and 40,400 kilometres
(25,100 mi) apogee by the launch
vehicle.[50]
Orbiter ...

Chandrayaan-2 orbiter at integration facility

The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is orbiting the

Moon on a polar orbit at an altitude of
100 km (62 mi).[51] It carries eight
scientific instruments; two of which are
improved versions of those flown on
Chandrayaan-1. The approximate launch
mass was 2,379 kg (5,245 lb).[4][5][21][52]
The Orbiter High Resolution Camera
(OHRC) conducted high-resolution
observations of the landing site prior to
separation of the lander from the
orbiter.[2][51] The orbiter's structure was
manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited and delivered to the ISRO
Satellite Centre on 22 June 2015.[53][54]

Dimensions: 3.2 × 5.8 × 2.2 m[8]

Gross lift-off mass: 2,379 kg
(5,245 lb)[3]
Propellant mass: 1,697 kg (3,741 lb)[6]
Dry mass: 682 kg (1,504 lb)[6]
Power generation capacity: 1000 W[8]
 Mission duration: approximately 7.5
years, extended from the planned 1
year owing to the precise launch and
mission management, in lunar
orbit[1][55]

Vikram lander ...

Rover Pragyan mounted on the ramp of Vikram

lander
Play media

Images of the Earth captured by Chandrayaan-2

Vikram lander camera LI4[56]

The mission's lander is called Vikram

(Sanskrit: व म, lit. 'Valour'[57])
Pronunciation (help·info) named after
Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), who is
widely regarded as the founder of the
Indian space programme.[58] The Vikram
lander detached from the orbiter and
descended to a low lunar orbit of 30 km
× 100 km (19 mi × 62 mi) using its 800 N
(180 lbf) liquid main engines. After
checking all of its on-board systems it
attempted a soft landing that would have
deployed the rover, and performed
scientific activities for approximately 14
Earth days. Vikram crash-landed during
this attempt.[1][37] The combined mass of
the lander and rover was approximately
1,471 kg (3,243 lb).[4][5]

The preliminary configuration study of

the lander was completed in 2013 by the
Space Applications Centre (SAC) in
Ahmedabad.[22] The lander's propulsion
system consisted of eight 50 N (11 lbf)
thrusters for attitude control and five
800 N (180 lbf) liquid main engines
derived from ISRO's 440 N (99 lbf) liquid
apogee motor.[59][60] Initially, the lander
design employed four main throttle-able
liquid engines, but a centrally mounted
fixed-thrust engine[61] was added to
handle new requirements of having to
orbit the Moon before landing. The
additional engine was expected to
mitigate upward draft of lunar dust
during the soft landing.[47] Vikram was
designed to safely land on slopes up to
12°.[62][63]

Some associated technologies include a

high resolution camera, Laser Altimeter
(LASA),[64] Lander Hazard Detection
Avoidance Camera (LHDAC), Lander
Position Detection Camera (LPDC),[65]
Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera
(LHVC), an 800 N throttleable liquid main
engine,[53] attitude thrusters, Ka band
radio altimeters,[66][67] Laser Inertial
Reference & Accelerometer Package
(LIRAP),[68] and the software needed to
run these components.[2][51] Engineering
models of the lander began undergoing
ground and aerial tests in late October
2016, in Challakere in the Chitradurga
district of Karnataka. ISRO created
roughly 10 craters on the surface to help
assess the ability of the lander's sensors
to select a landing site.[69][70]

Dimensions: 2.54 by 2 by 1.2 metres

(8 ft 4 in × 6 ft 7 in × 3 ft 11 in)[8]
Gross lift-off mass: 1,471 kg
(3,243 lb)[3]
Propellant mass: 845 kg (1,863 lb)[6]
Dry mass: 626 kg (1,380 lb)[6]
Power generation capability: 650 W
Mission duration: ≤14 days (one lunar
day)[2]

Pragyan rover ...

Pragyan rover of the Chandrayaan-2 mission

The mission's rover was called Pragyan

(Sanskrit: ान, lit. 'Wisdom'[71][72])
Pronunciation (help·info))[71][73] with a
mass of 27 kg (60 lb), and would have
operated on solar power.[4][5] The rover
was to move on six wheels, traversing
500 metres (1,600 ft) on the lunar
surface at the rate of 1 centimetre
(0.39 in) per second, perform on-site
analyses and send the data to the
lander, which would have relayed it to
the Mission Control on the
Earth.[21][48][52][74][75] For navigation, the
rover would have used:

Stereoscopic camera-based 3D
vision: two 1 megapixel,
monochromatic navcams in front of
the rover to provide the ground control
team a 3D view of the surrounding
terrain, and help in path-planning by
generating a digital elevation model of
the terrain.[76] IIT Kanpur contributed to
the development of the subsystems
for light-based map generation and
motion planning for the rover.[77]
 Control and motor dynamics: the rover
has a rocker-bogie suspension system
and six wheels, each driven by
independent brushless DC electric
motors. Steering is accomplished by
differential speed of the wheels or skid
steering.[78]

The expected operating time of Pragyan

rover was one lunar day, or around 14
Earth days, as its electronics were not
designed to endure the frigid lunar night.
However, its power system has a solar-
powered sleep/wake-up cycle
implemented, which could have resulted
in longer service time than
planned.[79][80] Two aft wheels of the
rover had the ISRO logo and the State
Emblem of India embossed on them to
leave behind patterned tracks on the
lunar surface.[81][82]

Dimensions: 0.9 × 0.75 × 0.85 m[8]

Power: 50 W[8]
Travel speed: 1 cm/sec[8]
Mission duration: ≤14 days (one lunar
day)

Science payload
Mission overview

ISRO selected eight scientific

instruments for the orbiter, four for the
lander,[3][83][84] and two for the rover.[21]
While it was initially reported that NASA
and ESA would participate in the mission
by providing some scientific instruments
for the orbiter,[85] ISRO in 2010 had
clarified that due to weight restrictions it
will not be carrying foreign payloads on
the mission.[86] However, in an update a
month before launch,[87] an agreement
between NASA and ISRO was signed to
include a small laser retroreflector from
NASA to the lander's payload to
measure the distance between the
satellites above and the microreflector
on the lunar surface.[88][89]

Orbiter ...

Payloads on the orbiter are:[1][3][84]

Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray

Spectrometer (CLASS) from the ISRO
Satellite Centre (ISAC), which makes
use of X-ray fluorescence spectra to
determine the elemental composition
of the lunar surface[90]
Solar X-ray monitor (XSM) from
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL),
Ahmedabad, for mapping the lunar
surface[21][91]
Dual Frequency L and S band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR)
from the Space Applications Centre
(SAC) for probing the first few metres
of the lunar surface for the presence of
different constituents. DFSAR was
expected to provide further evidence
confirming the presence of water ice,
and its distribution below the
shadowed regions of the Moon.[21][92]
It has lunar surface penetration depth
of 5 metres (16 ft) (L-band).[55][84]
Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from
the SAC for mapping of lunar surface
over a wide wavelength range for the
study of minerals, water molecules
and hydroxyl present.[21][93] It featured
an extended spectral range (0.8 μm to
5 μm), an improvement over previous
lunar missions whose payloads
worked up to 3 μm.[55][94][95]
Chandrayaan-2 Atmospheric
Compositional Explorer 2 (ChACE-
2)[96] Quadrupole Mass Analyzer from
Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) to
carry out a detailed study of the lunar
exosphere[21]
Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2)
from SAC for preparing a three-
dimensional map essential for
studying the lunar mineralogy and
geology[21][97]
Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound
Hypersensitive Ionosphere and
Atmosphere – Dual Frequency Radio
Science experiment (RAMBHA-DFRS)
by SPL for the studying electron
density in the lunar ionosphere[98]
 Orbiter High Resolution Camera
(OHRC) by SAC for scouting a hazard-
free spot prior to landing. Used to help
prepare high-resolution topographic
maps and digital elevation models of
the lunar surface. OHRC had a spatial
resolution of 0.32 metres (1 ft 1 in)
from 100 kilometres (62 mi) polar
orbit, which was the best resolution
among any lunar orbiter mission to
date.[84][99][100][101]

Vikram lander ...

The payloads on the Vikram lander

were:[3][84]
Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity
(ILSA) MEMS based seismometer by
LEOS for studying Moon-quakes near
the landing site[14][83][102][103]
Chandra's Surface Thermo-physical
Experiment (ChaSTE) thermal probe
by SPL, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC) for estimating the thermal
properties of the lunar surface[14]
RAMBHA-LP Langmuir probe by SPL,
VSSC for measuring the density and
variation of lunar surface plasma[14][83]
A laser retroreflector array (LRA) by the
Goddard Space Flight Center for
taking precise measurements of
 distance between the reflector on the
lunar surface and satellites in lunar
orbit.[87][88][104][105] The microreflector
weighed about 22 grams and cannot
be used for taking observations from
Earth-based lunar laser stations.[88]

Pragyan rover ...

Pragyan rover carried two instruments to

determine the abundance of elements
near the landing site:[3][84]

Laser induced Breakdown

Spectroscope (LIBS) from the
laboratory for Electro Optic Systems
(LEOS), Bangalore[21][106]
 Alpha Particle Induced X-ray
Spectroscope (APXS) from PRL,
Ahmedabad[107][108][109]

CHA XSM CLASS ILSA MEMS Laser

CE2 sensor retroreflect
package or array
(LRA)

LIBS APXS ChaS

TE

Mission profile
 Animation of Chandrayaan-2

Geocentric phase Selenocentric

phase

Lunar landing Overall motion of

phase Chandrayaan-2

    Earth ·     Moon ·     Chandrayaan-2

Launch ...
Chandrayaan-2 lifting off on 22 July 2019 at 2.43
PM IST

The launch of Chandrayaan-2 was

initially scheduled for 14 July 2019, 21:21
UTC (15 July 2019 at 02:51 IST local
time).[30] However, the launch was
aborted 56 minutes and 24 seconds
before launch due to a technical glitch,
so it was rescheduled to 22 July
2019.[9][31] Unconfirmed reports later
cited a leak in the nipple joint of a helium
gas bottle as the cause of
cancellation.[32][110][111]

Finally Chandrayaan-2 was launched on

board the GSLV MK III M1 launch vehicle
on 22 July 2019 at 09:13 UTC (14:43 IST)
with a better-than-expected apogee as
a result of the cryogenic upper stage
being burned to depletion, which later
eliminated the need for one of the
apogee-raising burns during the
geocentric phase of mission.[33][112][113]
This also resulted in the saving of around
40 kg fuel on board the spacecraft.[114]
Immediately after launch, multiple
observations of a slow-moving bright
object over Australia were made, which
could be related to upper stage venting
of residual LOX/LH2 propellant after the
main burn.[115][116]

Geocentric phase ...

Chandrayaan-2's trajectory
After being placed into a 45,475 ×
169 km parking orbit by the launch
vehicle,[33] the Chandrayaan-2
spacecraft stack gradually raised its orbit
using on-board propulsion over 22 days.
In this phase, one perigee-raising and
five apogee-raising burns were
performed to reach a highly eccentric
orbit of 142,975 × 276 km[117] followed
by trans-lunar injection on 13 August
2019.[118] Such a long Earth-bound
phase with multiple orbit-raising
manoeuvres exploiting the Oberth effect
was required because of the limited
lifting capacity of the launch vehicle and
thrust of the spacecraft's on-board
propulsion system. A similar strategy
was used for Chandrayaan-1 and the
Mars Orbiter Mission during their Earth-
bound phase trajectory.[119] On 3 August
2019, the first set of Earth images were
captured by the LI4 camera on the
Vikram lander, showing the North
American landmass.[56]

Selenocentric phase ...

After 29 days from its launch, the

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft stack
entered lunar orbit on 20 August 2019
after performing a lunar orbit insertion
burn for 28 minutes 57 seconds.[120] The
three-spacecraft stack was placed into
an elliptical orbit that passed over the
polar regions of the Moon, with
18,072 km (11,229 mi) aposelene and
114 km (71 mi) periselene.[121] By 1
September 2019 this elliptical orbit was
made nearly circular with 127 km (79 mi)
aposelene and 119 km (74 mi)
periselene after four orbit-lowering
manoeuvres[122][123][124][125] followed by
separation of Vikram lander from the
orbiter on 7:45 UTC, 2 September
2019.[126]

Planned landing site ...

 Landing site[127] Coordinates

Prime landing site 70.90267°S 22.78110°E

Alternate landing site 67.87406°S 18.46947°W

The flat highland between craters Manzinus C and

Simpelius N was the planned landing zone for the
Vikram lander.

Two landing sites were selected, each

with an ellipse of 32 by 11 kilometres
(19.9 mi × 6.8 mi).[127] The prime landing
site (PLS54) was at 70.90267°S
22.78110°E (600 km (370 mi) from the
south pole[128]), and the alternate
landing site (ALS01) was at 67.87406°S
18.46947°W. The prime site was on a
high plain between the craters Manzinus
C and Simpelius N,[129][130] on the near
side of the Moon.

Loss of Vikram ...

Location of the Vikram lander impact site

Ejecta field
 Ejecta field
around Vikram
lander impact
site

Before and
after image of
the impact site

Before and
after images of
the impact site
Vikram began its descent at 20:08:03
UTC, 6 September 2019 and was
scheduled to land on the Moon at
around 20:23 UTC. The descent and
soft-landing were to be performed by
the on-board computers on Vikram, with
mission control unable to make
corrections.[131] The initial descent was
considered within mission parameters,
passing critical braking procedures as
expected, but the lander's trajectory
began to deviate at about 2.1 kilometres
(1.3 mi; 6,900 ft) above the
surface.[132][133] The final telemetry
readings during ISRO's live-stream show
that Vikram 's final vertical velocity was
58 m/s (210 km/h) at 330 metres
(1,080 ft) above the surface, which a
number of experts noted, would have
been too fast for the lunar lander to
make a successful landing.[35][134][135]
Initial reports suggesting a crash[37][38]
were confirmed by ISRO chairman K.
Sivan, stating that "it must have been a
hard landing".[39][136][137]

Radio transmissions from the lander

were tracked during descent by analysts
using a 25-metre (82 ft) radio telescope
owned by the Netherlands Institute for
Radio Astronomy. Analysis of the
doppler data suggests that the loss of
signal coincided with the lander
impacting the lunar surface at a velocity
of nearly 50 m/s (180 km/h) (as
opposed to an ideal 2 m/s (7.2 km/h)
touchdown velocity).[3][138] The powered
descent was also observed by NASA's
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
using its Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project
instrument to study changes in the lunar
exosphere due to exhaust gases from
the lander's engines.[139] K. Sivan,
tasked senior scientist P. S. Goel to head
the Failure Analysis Committee to look
into the causes of the failure.[140]
Both ISRO and NASA attempted to
communicate with the lander for about
two weeks before the lunar night set
in,[101][141] while NASA's LRO flew over
on 17 September 2019 and acquired
some images of the intended landing
zone.[142] However, the region was near
dusk, causing poor lighting for optical
imaging.[143][144] NASA's LRO images,
showing no sight of the lander, were
released on 26 September.[128] The LRO
flew over again on 14 October under
more favorable lighting
conditions,[145][146] but was unable to
locate it.[147][148] The LRO performed a
third flyover on 10 November.[147]
On 16 November 2019, the Failure
Analysis Committee released its report to
the Space Commission, concluding that
the crash was caused by a software
glitch.[40] Phase One of descent from an
altitude of 30 km to 7.4 km above the
Moon's surface went as intended with
velocity being reduced from 1,683 m/s
to 146 m/s. But velocity reduction during
the second phase of descent was more
than expected. This deviation from
nominal was beyond the designed
parameters of on-board software,[149]
causing Vikram to land hard, though it
managed to impact relatively near the
intended landing site.[150] The complete
findings have not been made
public.[151][152][153]

Vikram 's impact site was located at

70.8810°S 22.7840°E by the LROC team
after receiving helpful input from
Shanmuga Subramanian, a volunteer
from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, who located
debris from the spacecraft in pictures
released by NASA.[154][155] While initially
estimated to be within 500 metres
(1,600 ft) of the intended landing site,
best-guess estimates from satellite
imagery indicate initial impact about 600
m away.[156] The spacecraft shattered
upon impact,[157] with debris scattered
over almost two dozen locations in an
area spanning kilometres.[155]

The orbiter part of the mission, with eight

scientific instruments, remains
operational, and will continue its seven-
year mission to study the Moon.[133]
Timeline of operations[158][159]
Result
Phase Date Event Detail Apogee / Perigee / Referen
Aposelene Periselene

22 July
2019 Burn time: 16 min 45,475 km 169.7 km [33]
Launch
09:13:12 14 sec (28,257 mi) (105.4 mi)
UTC

24 July 1st orbit-

45,163 km 230 km [160]
2019 raising Burn time: 48 sec
(28,063 mi) (140 mi)
09:22 UTC maneuver

25 July 2nd orbit-

54,829 km 251 km [161]
2019 raising Burn time: 883 sec
(34,069 mi) (156 mi)
19:38 UTC maneuver

Geocentric 29 July 3rd orbit-

71,792 km 276 km [162]
phase 2019 raising Burn time: 989 sec
(44,609 mi) (171.5 mi)
09:42 UTC maneuver

2 August 4th orbit-

89,472 km 277 km [163]
2019 raising Burn time: 646 sec
(55,595 mi) (172 mi)
09:57 UTC maneuver

6 August 5th orbit-

Burn time: 1041 142,975 km 276 km [117]
2019 raising
sec (88,841 mi) (171 mi)
09:34 UTC maneuver

13 August
Trans-lunar Burn time: 1203 [118]
2019 — —
injection sec
20:51 UTC

Selenocentric Lunar orbit

phase 20 August insertion
Burn time: 1738 18,072 km 114 km [121]
2019 1st lunar
sec (11,229 mi) (71 mi)
03:32 UTC bound
maneuver

21 August 2nd lunar Burn time: 1228 4,412 km 118 km [122]

2019 bound sec (2,741 mi) (73 mi)

 07:20 UTC maneuver

28 August 3rd lunar

Burn time: 1190 1,412 km 179 km [123]
2019 bound
sec (877 mi) (111 mi)
03:34 UTC maneuver

30 August 4th lunar

Burn time: 1155 164 km 124 km [124]
2019 12:48 bound
sec (102 mi) (77 mi)
UTC maneuver

1
5th lunar
September 127 km 119 km [125]
bound Burn time: 52 sec
2019 12:51 (79 mi) (74 mi)
maneuver
UTC

Vikram lunar 2
landing September Vikram 127 km 119 km [126]
—
2019 7:45 separation (79 mi) (74 mi)
UTC

3
September 1st deorbit 128 km 104 km [164]
Burn time: 4 sec
2019 3:20 burn (80 mi) (65 mi)
UTC

3
September 2nd deorbit 101 km 35 km [165]
Burn time: 9 sec
2019 burn (63 mi) (22 mi)
22:12 UTC

6
September Powered Landing Landing
Burn time: 15 min
2019 descent (planned) (planned)
20:08 UTC

Trajectory
6 deviation started
Lost upon
September Vikram at 2.1 km altitude,
crash
2019 landing telemetry was lost
landing.
20:23 UTC seconds before
touchdown.[35][134]

7 Pragyan Lander failure, — — [166][167]

 September rover rover was not
2019 deployment deployed.
00:00
UTC−01:00
UTC
(planned)

Aftermath
There was an outpouring of support for
ISRO from various quarters in the
aftermath of the crash landing of its lunar
lander. However, prominent Indian news
media also criticized ISRO's lack of
transparency regarding the crash of the
lander and its analysis of the
crash.[168][169] Indian media also noted
that unlike ISRO's previous record, the
report of the Failure Analysis Committee
was not made public.[41] ISRO's lack of
consistency regarding the explanation
around the rover's crashing was
criticized, with the organization providing
no proof of its own positions until the
efforts of NASA and a Chennai based
volunteer located the crash site on the
lunar surface.[170] In the wake of the
events surrounding Chandrayaan-2,
former ISRO employees criticized
unverified statements from the ISRO
chairman and what they claimed is the
top-down leadership and working
culture of the organization.[171][172][173]

Scientists involved in the

mission
A view of Mission Operations Complex (MOX-1),
ISTRAC[174] prior to the fourth Earth-bound
burn[163]

Key scientists and engineers involved in

the development of Chandrayaan-2
include:[175][176][177]

Ritu Karidhal – Mission Director

Muthayya Vanitha – Project Director
 K. Kalpana – Associate Project
Director[178]
G. Narayanan – Associate Project
Director[179]
G. Nagesh – Project Director
(former)[180]
Chandrakanta Kumar – Deputy Project
Director (Radio-frequency systems)
Amitabh Singh – Deputy Project
Director (Optical Payload Data
Processing, SAC)[181]

Chandrayaan-3
In November 2019, ISRO officials stated
that a new lunar lander mission is being
studied for launch in Q2 2021;[182] this
new proposal is called Chandrayaan-3
and it would be a re-attempt to
demonstrate the landing capabilities
needed for the Lunar Polar Exploration
Mission proposed in partnership with
Japan for 2024.[183][184] If funded, this
re-attempt would not include launching
an orbiter.[185] The proposed
configuration would have a detachable
propulsion module, a lander and a
rover.[186][187][188][189] According to VSSC
director, S. Somanath, there will be more
follow-up missions in the Chandrayaan
programme.[149][190]
According to The Times of India, work on
Chandrayaan-3 commenced on 14
November 2019.[191] In December 2019,
it was reported that ISRO requested the
initial funding of the project, amounting
to ₹75 crore (US$11 million), of which
₹60 crore (US$8.4 million) is intended for
machinery, equipment and other capital
expenditure, while the remaining
₹15 crore (US$2.1 million) is sought
under revenue expenditure head.[192]
Confirming the existence of the project,
K. Sivan stated that its cost would be
around ₹615 crore (US$86 million).[193]

See also
 Beresheet lander – Concurrent lunar
lander mission, crash-landed on the
Moon
Exploration of the Moon
List of missions to the Moon
List of ISRO missions
Lunar resources

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