New Delhi (CNN)India has successfully launched a mission to soft land a rover on the moon, in a landmark moment for a nation trying to become a space superpower.
The country’s latest lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh state at 2:43 p.m., Monday local time (5:13 am ET).
The launch was originally scheduled for July 15, but was abruptly called off just 56 minutes before lift-off due to a “technical snag.” India is now on the way to becoming the fourth country — in addition to United States, China and the former Soviet Union — to make a soft-landing on the lunar surface.
