Chandrayaan 2 is India's second mission to the moon. It was launched a week late, on 22 July at 2.46 pm, after being initially called off due to a minor leak in one of the fuel tanks.

Between 1.30-2.30 am, 7 September, the lander Vikram is expected to make its final descent to the moon. Indian space research Organisation chairperson K Sivan has said that this will be the most stressful 15 minutes in the entire mission.

If all goes well with the soft-landing, the rover Pragyan will roll out of the lander after all the systems are checked.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

The third part of the mission, the orbiter, with a mission life of one year, will orbit the moon and map the surface.

The lander first separated from the orbiter on 2 September. It then completed two de-orbiting manoeuvres successfully, on  3 and 4 September.

Before that, the orbiter-lander module made five orbit raising manoeuvres around Earth to save fuel while also getting closer to its final destination.

India will join the ranks of three other countries, USA, Russia, and China if the lander completes its soft-landing.