BENGALURU: India's second mission to the moon - Chandrayaan-2 - will be launched at 2.51am on July 15 . The moon landing is expected on September 6 or 7. The Rs 978-crore project will see the Indian Space Research Organisation ( Isro ) soft-land a lander (Vikram) near South Pole, the region of the moon which has not been explored much.This comes 11 years after India launched its comprehensive lunar exploratory mission, becoming the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to join this elite league. The 2008-09 mission had cost less than Rs 400 crore. The second mission will be led by two women, a first for any Indian interplanetary mission. Women have led a few communication and earth observation missions in the past.While Isro scientist Ritu Karidhal, who has played a key role in Mars Orbiter Mission, is the mission director, Vanitha M will be the project director.Unlike Chandrayaan-1, the second mission involves a lander that will soft-land on the lunar surface and unload a rover to study and take measurements from the moon. Initially, the project was to be a mission with Russia, but the plan fell through.Once launched, the composite structure of the second mission - orbiter, lander and rover (Pragyan) - will hover around the earth for 16 days, then spend five days getting closer to the lunar orbit and orbit for 27 days around the moon before the lander gets separated.During the 16 days around the earth, Isro will carry out five orbit-raising manoeuvres using propulsion systems on the orbiter, and then there will be a few more engine-burns during the five days that it will transcend towards the moon - when the composite structure or the spacecraft will cover 3.85 lakh km. "In the appropriate orbit, the lander will separate from the orbiter," Isro chairman K Sivan said. Vikram, which will house Pragyan, will sit on top of the orbiter. "Once we are 30km from the moon, the lander will descend for touchdown," Sivan said."The 15-minute operation - in which Vikram makes the final descent and soft-lands - will be the most terrifying as we have never attempted such a complex mission," Sivan said, adding that Isro will use the same strategy as Chandrayaan-1 to reach the moon. Soft-landing is new, though. After landing, Vikram's door will open slowly - even as the orbiter continues to hover 100km away - and Pragyan will exit after four hours. "It's a very slow operation. Subsequently, Pragyan will move on to the moon. Rover will move at a speed of 1cm per second and will cover 500 metres during its life," Sivan said.Vikram and Pragyan will have a lifespan of one lunar day (or 14 earth days). The orbiter is expected to last a year. Chandrayaan-2 will carry 14 payloads - 13 Indian and one passive payload from Nasa - with focus on mapping craters in the polar region, besides checking for water again as reported by TOI earlier.Sivan said Chandrayaan-2's data will be shared with global scientists after India examines it first. The second mission costs Rs 603 crore and the launch additional Rs 375 crore. Sivan thanked both academia and industry: "Industry was the muscle, academia the brain."