Chandrayaan-3 moon mission nears launch | Watch LIVE

India's ambitious moon mission Chandrayaan-3, the follow-up to the second lunar mission, is all set for a scheduled launch on Friday at 2.35 pm. Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is aiming for a soft landing of the Chandrayaan 3 mission on the surface of the moon by late August and a successful landing would make India only the fourth country to achieve the feat after the United States, China and erstwhile USSR.

The 25.30 hour countdown for the lift-off commenced at 1.05 pm on Thursday and was ‘progressing’ for the scheduled launch. (Check Chandrayaan 3 LIVE updates)

"LVM3 M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The countdown is progressing at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.", Isro said, in an update about the mission on Friday.

Also Read: ‘Chandrayaan-3 poised for success’: Ex-ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair confident on moon mission

Chandrayaan-3 mission consisting of a lander and rover configuration will be launched by the LVM3 launcher, formerly the GSLVMkIII rocket, from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till the 100 km lunar orbit. The mission objective of Chandrayaan 3 is to demonstrate safe and soft Landing on the lunar surface, demonstrate rover roving on the moon and conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-3 is the third lunar exploration mission in the fourth operational mission (M4) of LVM3 launcher, formerly the GSLVMkIII rocket.

The launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission will be streamed live by Isro.

Watch Chandrayaan-3 launch LIVE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Chandrayaan-3 mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation, lauding Indian scientists hours before the launch of India's third lunar mission.

Modi tweeted, "14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India's space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey."

He noted that Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the lunar transfer trajectory after the orbit raising manoeuvres.