The launch will take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
(Photo: Twitter/@SwamiGeetika)
The 20- hour countdown for the 15 July early morning lifts- off of India’s heavy rocket nicknamed the ‘Bahubali’ carrying the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft began at 6.51 am on Sunday, according to an official of the Indian space agency.
“The countdown started at 6.51 am,” K. Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said.
“ISRO has firmed up that Chandrayaan 2 Mission will be launched on July 15 early morning at 2 hours 51 minutes,” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said at a press conference on Saturday.
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The 640-tonne rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) standing at about 44 metres tall, is nicknamed the ‘Bahubali’, as like the hero in the successful film lifts a heavy Lingam, the rocket will carry the 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.
About 16-minutes into its flight, the ₹375 crore GSLV-Mk III rocket is expected to sling the ₹603 crore Chandrayaan-2 into an Earth parking 170×40400 km orbit.
During the countdown, the rocket and spacecraft’s systems will undergo checks and fuel will be filled to power the rocket engines.
The launch will take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The ISRO chief said that the Chandrayaan 2 Mission contains three components and the composite body of Chandrayaan 2 is kept inside GSLV MK-III.
ISRO had unveiled the first module picture of India’s second lunar mission from the ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment in Bengaluru on Saturday.
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