Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched Chandrayaan-2, India's historic mission to the moon at its scheduled time of 2:43 PM. ISRO called its lift-off perfect, and its chief K Sivan said the launch was the beginning of India's historic journey to the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
Watch the launch here:
Below are the live updates:
3: 45PM: President Ramnath Kovind congratulated scientists and engineers on ISRO's successful "historic" launch of Chandrayaan 2 and said that the mission will lead to new "knowledge" and "discoveries."
3:25PM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the entire team of ISRO for their successful Chandrayaan-2 mission.
3:14 PM: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has congratulated the entire team of ISRO for the successful launch of Chandryaan-2.
3:12 PM: GSLV-MkIII-M1 successfully places Chandrayaan-2 into Earth orbit, says ISRO.
3:06 PM: Today is a historic day for space and science and technology in India, says ISRO chairman K Sivan.
3:04 pm: ISRO Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan is currently addressing the nation on the successful launch of Chandryaan-2. "It is the beginning of India's successful journey to the moon, he said.
2:52 PM: Chandryaan 2, India's historic moon mission, lifts off; ISRO says 'perfect lift-off'.
2:43 PM: Chandryaan-2 lifts off.
2:30 PM: Mission Director has authorized the launch of Chandrayaan-2, reports ANI.
2:12 PM: Less than an hour to go.
1:57pm: Meanwhile, as ISRO gears up for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, locals in Kanpur on Monday morning offered prayers at a temple for the mission's success.
1:44pm: Filling of Liquid Hydrogen in Cryogenic Stage(C25) of GSLVMkIII-M1 completed.
1:20pm: Did You Know? The average distance of Moon from Earth is 3, 84, 000 km. Vikram lander will land on Moon on the 48th day of the mission launch.
1:10pm: Filling of Liquid Oxygen in Cryogenic Stage completed and filling of Liquid Hydrogen in progress.
12:55pm: About 16-minutes into its flight, the Rs 375-crore GSLV-Mk III rocket is expected to sling the Rs 603-crore Chandrayaan-2 into its 170x39,120-km orbit.
12:50pm: The ISRO later rectified the fault in its 44-metre Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III). Weighing about 640-tonne, the GSLV-Mk III rocket is nicknamed 'Bahubali' after the hero of a successful film of the same name.
12:45pm: The GSLV-Mk III rocket with Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was originally scheduled for flight at 2.51 a.m. on July 15. However, the flight was postponed after a technical snag was detected an hour prior to the rocket lift-off.