Every Indian is immensely proud today: PM Modi hails successful launch of Chandrayaan-2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the scientists of Indan Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of India's moon mission, Chandrayaan 2.

"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!" the PM said in his tweet.

"Indian at heart, Indian in spirit! What would make every Indian overjoyed is the fact that #Chandrayaan2 is a fully indigenous mission," he further said in his subsequent tweet.

Talking about the importance of the Chandrayaan mission, PM Modi said, "#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 second generation moon mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 2:43 pm IST on Monday.

A few minutes later, ISRO announced the launch was successful.

Watch - Chandrayaan-2: How crucial achievement of this mission will be for India?

I salute the people who made it happen, said ISRO chief K Sivan.

This was the second attempt by ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-2 after the first attempt had to be called off at the 11th hour on July 15.

Almost the entire Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, lander and rover have been designed and made in India.

India used its most powerful rocket launcher, GSLV Mk-III, to carry the 2.4 tonne orbiter, which has a mission life of about a year.

The spacecraft carried the 1.4 tonne lander Vikram - which in turn is taking the 27-kilogramme (60-pound) rover Pragyan - to a high plain between two craters on the lunar South Pole when it lands on the moon in September, 2019.