They're busy at work on the engineering aspect of Chandrayaan-II, which has begun and is scheduled to be launched by 2012, according to Mayilsamy Annadurai, Project Director Chandrayaan-1. “The total cost of the project is Rs. 425 crore,” he told journalists after calling on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at his residence here. He said though the lander-cum- rover was an Indo-Russian joint venture, Russia would share the major responsibility for the lander-cum-rover.

“The orbiter will be ours,” he added. The launcher will be GSLV Mark III. The Indian Space Research Organisation reports that the GSLV Mark III, is its heaviest, tallest and most powerful rocket yet. The 42.4-meter-tall rocket will have a lift-off weight of 630 tons and can put a four-ton satellite into the geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO) or a 10-ton satellite into a low-earth orbit. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.III

The Chandrayaan-II will have an orbiter (spacecraft) besides a lander-cum-rover. After the spacecraft reaches the lunar orbit, the lander-cum-rover will release from it and soft-land on the Moon by means of a powered descent. Mr. Annadurai said the entire orbiter would weigh 2,700 kg. Asked about his meeting with Mr. Karunanidhi, he said, it was a courtesy call. “I thanked him for his congratulatory messages,” he said.