Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday said the country's third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit.
"Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into lunar orbit," ISRO tweeted.
ISRO said the move was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru.
"A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru," the tweet said.
Perilune is the spacecraft's closest point to the moon.
Giving details about the next important step which the Chandrayaan-3 will perform, the space body said: "The next operation – reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 23:00 Hrs. IST."
ISRO also shared a message from the satellite to its Centre which said: "MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity."
Over the course of three weeks and through five manoeuvres following the launch on July 14, ISRO has been progressively moving the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into increasingly distant orbits from Earth.
Subsequently, on August 1, a crucial manoeuvre known as a "slingshot move" was executed, effectively propelling the spacecraft from Earth's orbit towards the Moon.
After this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft departed from its orbit around Earth and commenced a trajectory that would guide it towards the proximity of the Moon.
