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In A First, ISRO To Launch Three Rovers To Moon On A Single Rocket In 2017
Swarajya Staff
Dec 26, 2016, 10:08 AM | Updated 10:08 AM IST
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For the first time in the history of space exploration, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch three rovers to the Moon placed on a single rocket. The three rovers, one of which is India’s first private mission to the moon by Team Indus, will be sent into space using ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-Xl (PSLV-X1). The other two rovers will be from Japan.
Team Indusâ rover ECA and Japanâs Hakuto will go together to the moon in TeamIndusâ PSLV. Hereâs to a new friendship! #HarIndianKaMOONSHOT pic.twitter.com/ftg4PX8aLw
— TeamIndus (@TeamIndus) December 23, 2016
According to Times of India, the mission is scheduled to lift off around 28 December 2017. The launch will be a part of the global lunar competition, Google Lunar X Prize. The competition offers a total of $30 million in prizes to the first privately funded teams to land a robot on the Moon that successfully travels more than 500 meters (1,640 ft) and transmits back high-definition images and video.
Team Indus’s rover will be a sleek solar-powered unit with a mission duration of one lunar day, equivalent to 14 earth days. It has been designed to carry up to 20 kilogrammes of payload. The Japanese team, called Hakuto, will field a dual rover system consisting of the two-wheeled 'Tetris' and the four-wheeled 'Moonraker', linked using a tether.
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