India's second lunar mission is delayed

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SRIHARIKOTA, INDIA — India's space agency was set to launch the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission from Satish Dhawan Space Center on July 15 before the mission was aborted due to a technical error, reports India Today.

This would have been India's second moon mission, the Times of India reports.
The Indian Space Agency said they will announce a new launch date.

The mission's spacecraft comprises of a lander, a rover and an orbiter, the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO. The rover is to be housed within the lander.

The spacecraft will carry a total of 13 payloads. This would include the eight on the orbiter, three on the lander and two on the rover.

The orbiter will be carrying items such as a terrain mapping camera, a solar X-ray monitor, an imaging IR spectrometer and a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar.

The lander will include an instrument for lunar seismic activity and a thermal probe.

While the rover will carry an X-ray spectrometer and a laser-induced breakdown spectroscope.

The orbiter and the lander will separate once the spacecraft has reached the moon's orbit. The lander will attempt a soft-landing between two lunar craters, according to the ISRO.

Once on the moon's surface, the rover will be able to move around semi-autonomously. It will analyze the moon's surface and send data to the lander. The lander will then relay information to the orbiter and to earth, according to the ISRO.

India had previously launched its first lunar mission — Chandrayaan-1 — back in 2008.