Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state In India at just after 2:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET).
Crowds gathered at the space center to watch the history-making launch and more than 1 million people tuned in to watch on YouTube.
The Indian Space Research Organization confirmed on Twitter later Friday that Chandrayaan-3 is in “precise orbit” and has “begun its journey to the moon.”
It added that the health of the spacecraft is “normal.”
The craft is expected to land on the moon on August 23.
