You will give us several more reasons to smile: PM Modi to ISRO scientists

Addressing the nation on the backdrop of Chandrayaan-2's lander Vikram losing contact with the ground station, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed the ISRO scientists for giving their best and stated that they will give country more reasons to smile in future.

"You spend your entire life to make Mother India proud. I can understand your state of mind. You have given your best only and will give us several more reasons to smile", PM Modi told scientists in Bengaluru.

Praising ISRO for taking the country to new heights, Prime Minister Modi said: "The ISRO is recognised by the world as one of the greatest space agencies. No matter where I travel, the name that ISRO has created for itself is something that makes the nation proud of you all."

"In our illustrious history, we have faced moments that may have slowed us but they have never crushed our spirit. We have bounced back again and gone on to do spectacular things. This is the reason why our civilization stands tall," he added.

The Prime Minister also thanked families of ISRO scientists and said: "I salute not just you all (scientists), but also your families, for their contribution is priceless towards you all achieving so much over the years. There may be setbacks but we have not lost hope. We have strengthened our resolve."

Earlier, ISRO had announced that communication from Vikram Lander to ground stations was lost.

In a tweet, the space agency had said, "This is Mission Control Centre. VikramLander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analyzed."

The Vikram Lander successfully separated from Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on September 2. The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in its existing orbit.

After revolving around the Earth's orbit for nearly 23 days, the craft began its journey to the moon on August 14. The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22.