India Ready For Mangalyaan-2? ISRO Reveals When Its 2nd Mars Mission Will Launch

Twelve years after making history with the launch of Mangalyaan, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that India will attempt its first Mars landing. The ambitious Mangalyaan-2 mission is scheduled for launch in 2030, as confirmed by ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan during an address on Wednesday.

The original Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched on November 5, 2013, made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first country ever to do so on its maiden attempt. The spacecraft operated for over seven years, providing invaluable data on Mars’ atmosphere, mineral composition, and surface imaging before communications ceased in 2022.

Mangalyaan-2 signifies a major technological advancement. Unlike its predecessor,

which was solely an orbiter, this mission aims to deploy both an orbiter and a lander, with the potential addition of a small rover.

ISRO is concentrating on developing advanced propulsion, navigation, and landing systems to survive the thin Martian atmosphere and ensure a precise touchdown on the planet’s surface.

“Mangalyaan-2 is being designed not just to orbit Mars, but to achieve India’s first soft landing on another planet,” ISRO officials told India Today. This represents a bold step forward in planetary exploration and aligns with our long-term goals of interplanetary presence.

Preliminary mission studies and design work have commenced at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The agency is also considering potential international collaborations for scientific payloads and data sharing, similar to its approach with previous missions like Chandrayaan-3 and NISAR.

If successful, Mangalyaan-2 would place India among a select group of spacefaring nations that have landed on Mars, joining the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.

As ISRO continues its preparations, the 2030 launch will signify not only a new milestone in India’s Mars exploration journey but also a testament to the enduring legacy of Mangalyaan’s trailblasing success.