India's Chandrayaan-3  is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state on July 14. (photo: AFP)

With this, the lander has reached an orbit where the closest point to the Moon is 25 km and the farthest is 134 km, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed on Sunday. The module will undergo internal checks and wait for sunrise at the designated landing site, ISRO said.

The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

It blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state on July 14, elevating India’s space ambitions and cementing its status as a growing hub of innovation and technology.

The craft is expected to land on the moon on August 23. If successful, it would make India the fourth country to achieve the complicated feat, behind the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.