Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has finalised its payloads for India’s second mission to the Moon that is targeted for launch during 2013.

Chandrayaan-2 will have an orbiter and a rover built by Isro and a lander to be provided by Russia. The mission is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Isro on Monday said that the payloads to be flown onboard Chandrayaan–2 have been finalised by a national committee of experts drawn from Isro centres, academic institutions and R&D laboratories and chaired by UR Rao, chairman, advisory committee on space sciences and former chairman of Isro.

The committee has recommended five payloads to be flown on the orbiter of which three are new and two are improved versions of the payloads flown earlier on Chandrayaan–1 orbiter. The committee has also recommended two scientific payloads on the rover of Chandrayaan–2.

The five payloads of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter include a Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for mapping the major elements present on the lunar surface; S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad for probing the first few tens of meters of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents including water ice; and Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from SAC, Ahmedabad for mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl present.