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STORY: India's space agency launched a rocket towards moon orbit on Friday (July 14, 2023), on course for a landing on the lunar south pole.

If successful, that would mark an unprecedented feat, advancing India's position as a major space power.

Jitendra Singh is the Indian deputy minister for science and technology.

"It's a moment of glory for all of us. It's a moment of glory for India and I think a moment of destiny for all of us that we are part of the history in making."

The rocket blasted off from the country's main spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

About 16 minutes later, the Indian Space Research Organisation's mission control announced that the rocket had succeeded in putting the Chandrayaan-3 lander into an Earth orbit that will send it looping toward a moon landing next month.

Over 1.4 million people watched the launch YouTube, many offering congratulations.

If the mission succeeds, India would join a group of three other countries that have managed a controlled lunar

landing: the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

The spacecraft would also be the first to land at the lunar south pole, an area of special interest for space agencies and private space companies because of the presence of water ice that could support a future space station.

Chandrayaan, which means "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit, is expected to land there on August 23.

It will remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments.