Every Indian immensely proud today: PM Modi after Chandrayaan-2 launch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after the successful launch of India's indigenous moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, and said that every Indian is immensely proud today.

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Modi stated that this mission will further encourage youngsters towards pursuing science, research and innovation.

"Special moments that will be etched in the annals of our glorious history! The launch of #Chandrayaan2 illustrates the prowess of our scientists and the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science. Every Indian is immensely proud today," Prime Modi tweeted.

"Indian at heart, Indian in spirit! What would make every Indian overjoyed is the fact that #Chandrayaan2 is a fully indigenous mission. It will have an Orbiter for remote sensing the Moon and also a Lander-Rover module for analysis of lunar surface," he added.

He further shared two photographs of himself watching the launch of Chandrayaan-2.

"#Chandrayaan2 is unique because it will explore and perform studies on the south pole region of lunar terrain which is not explored and sampled by any past mission. This mission will offer new knowledge about the Moon," the Prime Minister said.

"Efforts such as #Chandrayaan2 will further encourage our bright youngsters towards science, top quality research and innovation. Thanks to Chandrayaan, India's Lunar Programme will get a substantial boost. Our existing knowledge of the Moon will be significantly enhanced," he added.

Chandrayaan-2 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

The spacecraft took off at 2.43 pm, exactly a week after the mission was aborted after a technical snag was detected less than an hour before the launch.

In the run-up to the launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on its Twitter, gave regular updates about preparations.

ISRO had successfully completed the launch rehearsal of the Chandrayaan-2 mission on Saturday.

Chandrayaan-2 will explore a region of Moon where no mission has ever set foot. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover together referred to as "composite body". The probe's total mass is 3.8 ton and is expected to land on the Moon's south polar region on September 6 or 7 this year.

It will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to carry out a soft landing on Moon.