India makes history as Chandrayaan-3 lands near Moon's south pole

1. India's Chandrayaan-3 becomes the first space mission to land near the south pole of the Moon
2. "India is now on the Moon," announces PM Narendra Modi immediately after the Vikram lander touches down on the lunar surface
3. Inside the lander is the six-wheeled Pragyaan rover, which, if all goes to plan, will roam the lunar surface gathering images and data
4. Scientists believe the Moon's craters that are permanently in shadow may hold frozen water
5. The attempt - India's third lunar mission - comes days after Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft span out of control and crashed into the Moon

India's space agency getting ready for Moon landing

Isro

The Indian space agency has shared images from its mission operation centre from where it will monitor the Moon landing.

Scientists will wait for the arrival of Chandrayaan-3's lander module, Vikram, at the designated point around 17:44 India time (13:14 BST) before starting its descent.

A billion eyes on the Moon

Meryl Sebastian

BBC News, Cochin

Millions of Indians across the country will be tuning to to their TVs and social media platforms to watch the Vikram lander attempt touchdown - with many praying for a “smooth landing”.

On 14 July, crowds gathered outside Isro’s spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh cheered as Chandrayaan-3 was launched successfully.

Since then, across India, every stage of the mission has been watched closely in anticipation of its success.

The mission has been getting wall-to-wall media coverage on Wednesday with hashtags linked to the launch trending high on social media platforms.

Reuters

An Indian with his body painted in tri-colours celebrates Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft

India aims to make history

Getty Images

As the name suggests, Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third Moon mission. The spacecraft is made up of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. On Wednesday, it’s the lander - called Vikram, after the Isro founder Vikram Sarabhai - which is aiming to make a “soft landing” on the lunar surface. It’s carrying within its belly a 26kg rover named Pragyaan, the Sanskrit word for wisdom.

If it’s successful, India will become the first country to land near the south pole. It will also be only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon - after the US, the former Soviet Union and China who have all landed near the equator.

Welcome to our live coverage on India's Moon landing

Geeta Pandey

BBC News, Delhi

Thanks for joining us for up-to-the-minute coverage of India’s attempt to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 is aiming to create history by landing near the little-explored south pole of Earth’s satellite.

The touchdown is scheduled for 18:04 India time (13:34 BST).

Scientists are huddled in the command room of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in the southern city of Bengaluru (Bangalore), guiding the lander’s movement as it advances towards the lunar surface.

The landing comes just days after Luna-25 - Russia’s first Moon mission in almost half a century - crashed after spinning out of control.

We'll be bringing you live updates with inputs from our correspondents in Delhi and the Isro headquarters in Bengaluru.

Isro

One of the latest images sent by the Vikram lander