Article Posted on : - Dec 26, 2010

BANGALORE (PTI): The GSLV failure Saturday may at this stage look like leading to some delay in the 2013-scheduled Chandrayaan-2, India's second unmanned mission to moon, but there is no cause for worry as the ISRO is confident of doing the catch-up act to meet the time-line.

The unsuccessful mission has led to the question whether the Indian Space Research Organisation would be able to meet its schedule on the ambitious venture.

While a section of the space establishment believes that there would be "some impact" because of the failure, there are others who expressed the view that once the cause for the unsuccessful mission is known, ISRO could work overtime to stick to the time-line, ISRO sources said.

Chandrayaan-2 would have an orbiter (satellite), a lander and a rover.

Chandrayaan-2 is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by ISRO.

Earlier this year, the payloads to be flown onboard Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter and rover) have been finalised by a National committee of experts drawn from ISRO centres, academic institutions and R & D laboratories and Chaired by Prof U R Rao, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Space Sciences (ADCOS) and former Chairman of ISRO.

The committee, after detailed deliberations and considering the mission requirements, weight and power available for scientific payloads, has recommended five payloads to be flown on the orbiter of which three are new and two are improved versions of payloads flown earlier on Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

The committee has also recommended two scientific payloads on the rover of Chandrayaan-2. Inclusion of additional payloads, if possible within the mission constraints, will be considered at a later date following a detailed review.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter weight is about 1,400 kg and lander weight is about 1,250 kg. Development of the sub-systems of the orbiter and the rover is in progress at ISRO centres in Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad.