Twelve years after India’s historic success with the Mangalyaan mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has officially unveiled its next big leap Mangalyaan-2, a mission that aims not just to orbit but to land on Mars for the first time.
The project, scheduled for launch in 2030, was confirmed by ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan during a recent address. This landmark mission will mark India’s first attempt at a soft landing on the Red Planet, positioning the country among a select group of global space powers.
Mangalyaan-2: From Orbit To Landing
India’s first Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched on November 5, 2013, made history by making India the first Asian nation to reach Mars’ orbit and the first in the world to do so on its maiden attempt. MOM, affectionately known as Mangalyaan, operated successfully for over seven years, studying Mars’ atmosphere, surface, and mineral composition before contact was lost in 2022.
Now, ISRO’s next chapter Mangalyaan-2 will go beyond orbiting. The mission is designed to include an orbiter, a lander, and possibly a small rover, marking India’s first attempt at a surface exploration of another planet.
According to ISRO scientists, “Mangalyaan-2 is being designed not just to orbit Mars, but to achieve India’s first soft landing on another planet,” underscoring the nation’s growing ambitions in interplanetary exploration.
Advanced Technology And Global Collaboration
The mission will use cutting-edge propulsion, navigation, and landing systems engineered to overcome the challenges of Mars’ thin atmosphere and rugged terrain. Preliminary design and feasibility studies are already underway at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
ISRO is also exploring international collaborations for scientific payloads, data analysis, and technical support, a model that has worked effectively in previous missions like Chandrayaan-3 and the upcoming NISAR project with NASA.
If successful, Mangalyaan-2 will elevate India into an elite league of nations, alongside the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union, that have achieved a Mars landing.
