PM Modi watches Chandrayaan-2 lift off from office, gives round of applause
Chandrayaan-2 took off on time at 2:43 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre from Sriharikota island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Monday to congratulate the nation after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2, India’s mission to the moon.
“Special moments that will be etched in the annals of our glorious history! The launch of #Chandrayaan2 illustrates the prowess of our scientists and the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science. Every Indian is immensely proud today!” PM Modi tweeted.
Chandrayaan-2 took off on time at 2:43 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre from Sriharikota island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The ₹978 crore mission marks a significant point in India’s space programme making it the fourth country to have landed a rover on moon.
Watch | Chandrayaan-2 launch: PM Modi watches lift-off
ISRO confirmed that the 43.43m tall three-stage rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1, also known as ‘Baahubali’ for carrying heavy payloads, successfully placed the Chandrayaan-2 in the earth’s orbit.
The success of Chandrayaan-2 lift off comes days after the July 15 launch was called off just about an hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket. “We bounced back in flying colours after the earlier technical snag,” ISRO chief K Sivan said on Monday.
Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to land on the lunar south pole, where no country has gone so far, in September. It will send a rover to explore water deposits which were confirmed by India’s first moon mission in 2008.
