The space program of India has stumbled upon a major block on their way to the moon but they have made great achievements in Mars and lunar exploration. The successful mission of Chandrayaan-1 had completed most of the major objectives in the year 2009 in spite of having lost its communication with the Earth within a year.
Within this short time, a moon impactor was deployed by the spacecraft which produced debris to prove the existence of water on the moon.
The successor mission, Chandrayaan-2 lost contact with Vikram Lander towards the end of the landing process which was always considered hazardous.
More details about what caused this or what has happened during landing have not been provided by ISRO yet. The lander along with a small rover tucked inside was designed for investigating the lunar environment which would be helpful for future missions.
Characterization of moonquakes and study of radiation environment was one of the many tasks Vikram were important for the consideration of dwelling construction for astronauts in the future.
Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister has consoled the scientists of ISRO saying that the best was yet to come. He said that India still has a long way to go and will achieve success soon.
The agency also has plans for a Chandaryaan-3 mission and also has plans for human moon-landing. Interplanetary missions are also under focus including probes to Venus and Mars as well as sending humans to space. India is having talks with Japan about teaming up to send a longer-lived rover to the south pole of the moon in 2023.
This rover would possibly explore frozen water existing within sheltered craters.
The first Mars mission was completed successfully in 2014 when Mangalyaan-1 entered Mars orbit and transmitted the information. India has plans to build Mangalyaan-2 and its launch is planned for 2022.
This orbiter will be examining the Martian morphology, mineralogy, and atmosphere. India also has plans for space crafts to other locations of the solar system as well. According to ISRO, mission Aditya-L1 will be launched in 2020 and will be examining the solar corona.
The agency also hopes to launch a mission for studying polarization caused by bright sources of X-rays. Under the program named Gaganyaan, humans will be sent to space.