If the rest of the current mission goes according to plan, the mission will land safely near the Moon’s little-explored south pole between August 23 and 24.
India’s last attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago, when ground control lost contact moments before landing.
Developed by ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 consists of a lander module named Vikram, which means “valor” in Sanskrit, and a rover named Pragyan, which is the Sanskrit word for wisdom.
The mission comes with a price tag of US$74.6 million – very low compared to other countries, and a testimony to India’s frugal space engineering.
Experts say India can keep costs down by copying and adapting existing space technology, thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of what their foreign counterparts pay.