BENGALURU: Chandrayaan 2 lunar lander Vikram has been finally located on the moon's surface confirmed, ISRO chief K Sivan today. ISRO had lost contact with Vikram on Saturday. The lander had lost contact just 2.1 kilometers from the moon's surface.
Although the spacecraft had a hard landing, said Sivan.
"We've found the location of lander Vikram on lunar surface and orbiter has clicked a thermal image of the lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon," Sivan said, adding, "It must have been a hard landing".
ISRO chief Sivan also said it was unclear at this stage if the lander had been damaged.
India had expected to make space history with the Rs. 1,000-crore Chandrayaan 2 mission.
A successful soft landing on the moon's surface would have made the country only the fourth - after the United States, Russia and China - to achieve the feat. It would also have made India the first country to complete a soft landing near the South Pole on its first attempt.
In a statement to national broadcaster Doordarshan on Saturday, Dr Sivan had blamed faulty execution of the last stage of the operation for the loss of communication.
"The last part of the operation was not executed in the right manner. It was in that phase that we lost link with the lander, and could not establish contact subsequently," he said.