Indian rocket to land on moon in 2017; solar mission in 2019

December 16, 2015 17:01

India's second lunar probe, Chandrayaan II, will land on the moon in 2017 and the country's first solar mission, Aditya L1, is likely to be launched in 2019, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Chandrayaan II will land on the surface of the moon in 2017 and this second lunar mission will help explore the possibilities of signs of extra-terrestrial life, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said during Question Hour, responding to supplementaries.

The Aditya L1 mission "is aimed at studying the sun from an orbit around the sun-earth lagrangian point (L-1) which is about 1.5 million km from earth. It will carry seven payloads including a coronagraph to observe the outermost layers of the sun, the corona. Aditya L1 will be launched during the 2019-20 timeframe," he said in his written response.

The "approved cost" of the solar mission is 378.53 crore.

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