Article Posted on : - Sep 23, 2009

Sriharikota ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair addressing a press conference after successfully launch of PSLV C-14 from Satish Dhavan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Wednesday. Image credit: PTI

SRIHARIKOTA (PTI): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is well on course to launch the proposed Chandrayaan-II with an orbiter and lander within the next four years, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

"Preliminary design has been completed and it is on course. By the end of 2013 or early 2014, we can have the launch, he told reporters here after the successful launch of Oceansat-2 and six nano satellites.

"We are going to have an orbiter and lander in Chandrayaan-II so that it will have a soft landing on the surface of the moon," he said Wednesday.

Nair said some instruments that could analyse the moon surface would also be installed in Chandrayaan-II.

He said ISRO would use inputs sent from Chandrayaan-I, whose mission was terminated abruptly last month, for a smooth landing.

To a question on Chandrayaan-I's performance, he maintained its moon mission had been successful and data sent by the satellite, which worked for 315 days, was "very satisfactory".

He said Chandrayaan-I would continue to be in orbit 200 km from the moon surface and would automatically crash on the surface of the moon.