Bengaluru: The ISRO announced that the launch of country’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3. The ISRO have been selected four Indian Air Force personnels for the ambitious Gaganyaan program, whose astronaut training would commence soon Russia.

ISRO Chairman K. Sivan in his address in a press conference on Wednesday said work related to the third lunar mission was going on smoothly. It will have a lander, rover and a propulsion module like its predecessor, he said. He also said that the launch of Chandrayaan-3 may shift to next year. He also said that the work on both Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan, the country’s maiden manned space machine, was going on simultaneously. He said four astronauts have been identified for the mission and their training will start from third week of this month in Russia.

He also said that India has signed agreements with Russia and France for the cooperation on the Gaganyaan mission. The ambitious mission Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech in 2018, he said. The Chandrayaan-3 was estimated at a project cost of Rs. 250 crores.  The ISRO Chairman said the Chandrayaan-3 launch pad to come up in Tuticorin in Tamilnadu.