Chandrayaan-3 lands on moon in historic moment for India

NEW DELHI, (Reuters): An Indian spacecraft landed on the moon on Wednesday (August 23), the space agency said, in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India’s standing as a space power, just days after a similar Russian lander crashed.

For India, the successful landing marks its emergence as a space power as the government looks to spur investment in private space launches and related satellite-based businesses.

People across the country were glued to television screens and said prayers as the spacecraft approached the surface.