Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to launch Chandrayaan-II in the first quarter of 2018. The space agency's second indigenous mission to the earth's satellite will be equipped with upgraded domestic space technology.
"Chandrayaan-I had an impact probe, which crash landed on moon's surface, but Chandrayaan-II will have a controlled descent of a rover which will perform in-situ lunar surface observations for 14 Earth days, and the data will be relayed back for further analysis,” said Kiran Kumar chairman, ISRO, told media at the sidelines of the 87th National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) symposium organised by SPPU.
The ISRO chairman also revealed that agency is planning to orchestrate 10-12 launches in the next year, which will help it strengthen capacity in terms of observation, communication or navigation.
Kiran Kumar explained that the agency is focussing on space technology development for not only domestic use but also to capture a part of the international market.
“As part of the capacity-building process for the country, the space systems we develop will not be limited only for the use of ISRO… we also want Indian industries to capture a part of the international market. We will engage private industries and support them in bagging more opportunities in this field,” ISRO chairman said.
