After a couple of delays caused due to technical glitches, India’s maverick space agency, the ISRO, has today successfully launched its second mission to moon. Christened the ‘Chandrayaan – 2’, the mission aims to achieve what no other nation has achieved, soft land on the ‘dark side’ of the moon (south pole) and push out a robotic rover that will conduct on ground experiments.

The mission was launched aboard India’s heaviest rocket, the GSLV Mark III. ISRO’s lander and orbiter strategy will be the same as the one with their successful Mars mission. The orbiter and lander combine will use a slingshot across earth, enough to reach earth’s escape velocity. Once achieved, it will be thrown out of the orbit to enter into Moon’s orbit. The method, though time-taking, results in huge fuel and cost savings for the agency.

All set parameters were met by the GSLV rocket with text-book precision, highlighting India’s continued progress with a zero-error approach in space missions.

#GSLVMkIII-M1 successfully injects #Chandrayaan2 spacecraft into Earth Orbit
Here's the view of #Chandrayaan2 separation#ISRO pic.twitter.com/GG3oDIxduG

— ISRO (@isro) July 22, 2019

Once successful in landing, the mission will see India entering yet another exclusive space club, which currently comprises of Russia, the US and China, to have soft landed a rover on moon. India however, will become the only country to have landed the rover on the farther, completely unexplored side of the moon (the south polar regions).

And there is every chance, that India’s Chandrayaan-2 will be successful. The country after all, became the first to send a mission around Mars at first attempt. The mission, despite being extensively complex, was done at a shoe string budget of $76 Million. Chandrayaan 1, the first moon mission by India, was also the one to discover water on the lunar surface.

Here’s the launch video:

Launch of Chandrayaan 2 by GSLV MkIII-M1 Vehicle https://t.co/P93BGn4wvT

— ISRO (@isro) July 22, 2019

Why the south polar region you ask ? Well, for one, it lies completely unexplored and humans have no idea on what goes on, on that side. Second, Through this effort, ISRO aims to derive insights and experiences that will bring about a paradigm shift in how lunar expeditions are approached for years to come — propelling further voyages into the farthest frontiers.