India’s second lunar probe Chandrayaan II will land on 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 moon in 2017 and this second lunar mission will help explore the
possibilities of signs of extra-terrestrial life, Minister of State in 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 during2019-20 timeframe,” he said in his written response. The “approved cost” of the
solar mission is Rs. 378.53 crore. Responding to another question, Mr. Singh
said India has entered the era of “space marketing” and the launch of six
Singapore satellites on Wednesday will earn India €26 million. So far, India
has earned $15 million and €80 million by launching satellites of other countries,
he said, adding that $ 5 million and €65 million are in the “pipeline”, while
apparently referring to the launches proposed in the future. The minister said
a budget of Rs. 1420 crore has been approved by the government for realisation
of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite (IRNSS) programme, including satellites
and associated ground segment.

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