According to sources a day after communication was lost with vikram Lander, ISRO chief K Sivan told the media that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has located the exact location of the lander on the lunar surface. Earlier on Saturday, minutes before the scheduled soft-landing of vikram on the surface of the moon, the lander lost communication with the ground station after it had reached an altitude of 2.1 km from the lunar surface. 

ISRO chief said on Sunday Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter, which continues to circle the moon, has found the location of the lander. Dr K Sivan told news agency “We have found the location of vikram Lander on the lunar surface and the 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”. Moreover the vikram Lander began its descent at 1.37 am on Saturday and was supposed to touch down on the moon’s surface in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at latitude of about 70° south. Perhaps the descent went as planned until 2.1 km above the surface of the moon, which is when communication with the lander was lost. ISRO chairman K Sivan officially announced at 2.20 am that the lander had lost communication with the orbiter, and that ISRO was analyzing the data. 

Apparently ISRO stated that the Chandrayaan-2 mission had accomplished 90-95% of its mission objectives even though contact with the lander was not established yet. Further the space agency said the precise launch and mission management has ensured a long life of almost seven years for the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter instead of the planned one year. Moreover ISRO said Chandrayaan-2 mission was a highly complex mission, which represented a significant technological leap compared to its previous missions.