It was the second lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1 that assisted in confirming the presence of water/hydroxyl on the moon.
It consisted of a lunar orbiter, and also included the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover, all of which were developed in India. The main scientific objective was to map and study the variations in lunar surface composition, as well as the location and abundance of lunar water.
The craft reached the Moon’s orbit and began orbital positioning manoeuvres for the landing of the Vikram lander.Vikram and the rover were scheduled to land on the near side of the Moon, in the South Pole region and conduct scientific experiments for one lunar day, which approximates two Earth weeks. A successful soft landing would have made India fourth country after USSR, US and PRC to do so. However, the lander deviated from its intended trajectory starting at 2.1 kilometres and had lost communication when touchdown confirmation was expected.
