People wave Indian flags as an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island off the coast of southern Andhra Pradesh state on July 14, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

NEW DELHI - Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Saturday evening said the country's third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit.

"Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit," ISRO in a brief statement posted on social media said. "A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru."

Perilune is the point at which a spacecraft in lunar orbit is closest to the moon.

ISRO said the next operation - reduction of orbit - is scheduled for Sunday at around 11:00 pm local time

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ISRO said the next operation - reduction of orbit - is scheduled for Sunday at around 11:00 pm local time.

The space agency also shared a message from the satellite to its centers, which read, "MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity."

India's state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) said after lunar orbit injection, Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is slated to orbit the moon multiple times, gradually approaching the moon.

"Once it reaches a 100 km orbit above the lunar surface, the lander and rover will be detached and maneuvered to soft-land on the surface of the moon," the broadcaster said. "The spacecraft is expected to complete a 40-day journey to make a soft landing near the moon's south pole around August 23."

Chandrayaan 3 was launched on July 14.

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Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019. However, the mission lander lost contact shortly before the scheduled attempt to soft-land on the moon on Sept 7, 2019.