Chandrayaan 2: ISRO chief K Sivan says orbiter doing well, no communication with lander Vikram

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan stated on Thursday that the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is doing well but there have been no communication from lander Vikram. He added that a national level committee is analysing what went wrong with the lander. Sivan added that once the committees submit their report, the space agency will work on a future plan.

"Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is doing very well. All payload operations have commenced, it's doing extremely well. We have got no signal from lander but orbiter is working very well. A national level committee is now analysing what really went wrong with the lander," he said to news agency ANI.

The ISRO chief also said, "Maybe after the committee submits the report, we'll work on the future plan. Necessary approvals and other processes are required. We are working on that."

ISRO Chief K Sivan: Maybe after the committees submits the report, we'll work on the future plan. Necessary approvals and other processes are required. We are working on that. https://t.co/mFe3B40pnT

- ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2019

Vikram lander lost communication with the orbiter on September 7, moments before it was scheduled to land on the moon. Following days of silence from the other end, US space agency NASA also joined the efforts to establish communication with lander Vikram.

"Space is hard. We commend ISRO's attempt to land their Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon's South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together," said NASA after the unsuccessful attempt.

NASA also attempted to take images of the lander with the help of its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). However, because of the shadows in the area, the LRO could not capture the lander Vikram's exact position. Out of the 38 global attempts of 'soft landing' on the lunar surface, only 20 have been successful. Just five months back, Israel's attempt crash-landed on the moon.

Also read: Chandrayaan 2: ISRO examines cause of communication failure with lander Vikram

Also read: Chandrayaan 2: NASA fails to locate Vikram lander due to 'long shadows' over landing site