Naveen congratulates ISRO scientists for Chandrayaan 2 launch

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday congratulated the scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2, hailing it as a giant leap in space exploration.

"Congratulations to the scientists of @isro for successful launch of India's first exploratory mission, #Chandrayaan2 to our celestial neighbour," Patnaik said in a twitter post.

"The historic journey will carry billions of dreams to #Moon, making a giant leap in space exploration," the chief minister tweeted.

Earlier on the day, India successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on-board its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport at Sriharikota to explore the uncharted south pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.

The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth orbit about 16 minutes later.