Its first lunar probe, the Chandrayaan-1, orbited the moon and was then deliberately crash-landed onto the lunar surface in 2008. Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, blasts off. Aijaz Rahi/APDeveloped by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is comprised of a lander, propulsion module and rover. Only three other countries have achieved the complicated feat of soft-landing a spacecraft on the moon’s surface – the United States, Russia and China. People listen to a live broadcast of scientists speaking after the launch of spacecraft Chandrayaan-3.

Source: CNN July 15, 2023 02:13 UTC