London (CNN)India hopes to become only the fourth country — behind the US, the former Soviet Union and China — to make a soft landing on the surface of the moon when its Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft attempts the feat early Saturday local time (Friday eastern time).
Chandrayaan-2, which translates as “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on July 22, a week after its first launch was called off due to a “technical snag”.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reported that its orbiter and landing module successfully separated on Monday — six weeks into the mission.
