A cooperation agreement for joint lunar research and exploration has been signed between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos). Mr. G Madhavan Nair, the Chairman of the ISRO, and Mr. A. Perminov, the Director of Roskosmos, signed the agreement on November 12th in Moscow. The teamwork will revolve around Chandrayaan-2, a project involving a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a rover on the Moon’s surface.
ISRO is going to have the main responsibility for the orbiter and Roskosmos will be responsible for the rover/lander vehicle. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in the 2011 to 2012 time frame. Additionally, the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned mission to the Moon, still remains set for April of next year. The final stages of integration and testing continue successfully. This satellite will launch onboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and will find the spacecraft orbiting at 100 km above the Moon for two years mappng the lunar surface’s topography and mineralogical content. Also on board will be a Moon Impact Probe payload to demo the technology required for an accurate landing on the Moon’s surface—Mumbai, India
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