India Postpones Chandrayaan-2 Moon Mission Due to Technical Glitch
The Indian Space Research Organisation scrubs the highly anticipated Chandrayaan-2 launch just under an hour before liftoff after discovering a technical issue. Officials promise to announce a revised launch date for the lunar south pole mission soon.
India postpones the launch of its ambitious Chandrayaan-2 moon mission after detecting a technical snag in the launch vehicle system less than an hour before liftoff. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scrubs the launch as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the spacecraft.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission carries an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover designed to explore the uncharted lunar south pole. ISRO aborts the countdown about 56 minutes before the scheduled 5:21 p.m. EDT liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
Space agency officials state that a revised launch date is coming soon as engineers work to identify and resolve the underlying issue. This mission represents India's most complex and significant lunar exploration attempt to date.