India on Friday launched an unmanned spacecraft to land on the Moon.

The heavyweight LVM3-M4 rocket lifted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh carrying the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, as thousands of enthusiasts clapped and cheered.

“Chandrayaan-3… has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the spacecraft is normal,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Twitter.

The world’s most populous nation has a comparatively low-budget aerospace programme that is rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global space powers.

India’s last attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago, when ground control lost contact moments before landing.

If the rest of the current mission goes to plan, the Chandrayaan-3, which means “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, will safely touch down near the moon’s little-explored south pole between August 23 and 24.

Developed by ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module named Vikram, which means “valour” in Sanskrit, and a rover named Pragyan, the Sanskrit word for wisdom.

Source: Qatar News Agency