The Chandrayaan-II project is being designed and worked out based on the experience gained and lessons learnt from the Chandrayaan-I project.  The reasons that caused the termination of the Chandrayaan-I project, ahead of its originally planned life-span, are being specifically addressed in the Chandrayaan-II project.

The Chandrayaan-II project is envisaged to have an Indian Orbiter module with scientific instruments to go round the moon and a Russian Lander module carrying an Indian Rover and a few scientific instruments.  The Chandrayaan-II project will be launched using the Indian Geostationary Launch Vehicle – GSLV.  The costs towards these components will be met by the Space Agencies of the respective countries.

The data provided by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Hyper-Spectral Imager (HySI) instruments, carried on-board the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft, have revealed large spans of crystalline feldspar on the lunar surface.  The data provided by the Chandrayaan-I X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has revealed the presence of Magnesium, Aluminium, Silicon and Calcium on the lunar surface.  The analysis of the data provided by the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar. (Mini-SAR), the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), and the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) has helped in photo-geological mapping of considerable part of the lunar surface.  These are in addition to the discovery of the hydroxyl and water molecules near the polar regions of the moon.  Thus, the envisaged objectives of the Chandrayaan-I project have been achieved to a considerable extent.

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