India successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan at 14:43 local time from the Sriharikota space station and it hopes the $145m (£116m) mission will be the first to land on the Moon's South Pole.
For the first time in India's space
history, an interplanetary expedition is being led by two women - Muthaya
Vanitha, the project director, and Ritu Karidhal, the mission director.
"It is the beginning of a
historical journey of India towards the moon," said Isro chief K Sivan in
a speech after the launch.
The spacecraft
has entered the Earth's orbit, where it will stay for 23 days before it begins
a series of manoeuvres that will take it into lunar orbit.If successful, India
will become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface.
Only the former Soviet Union, the US and China have been able to do so.
India's space chief said his agency had
"bounced back with flying colors" after the aborted first attempt.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the mission for being "fully indigenous".
Source: BBC
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