India has successfully launched its second lunar mission a week after it halted the scheduled blast-off due to a technical snag.
Chandrayaan-2 was launched at 14:43 local time (09:13 GMT) on Monday from the Sriharikota space station.
India states the $145m (£116m) mission will be the first to land on the Moon’s south pole.
The spacecraft has entered the Earth’s orbit, where it will stay for 23 days before it begins a series of manoeuvres that will take it into lunar orbit.
The lift-off was broadcast live on TV and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s official social media accounts.
For the first time in India’s space history, an interplanetary expedition is being led by two women – Muthaya Vanitha, the Project Director, and Ritu Karidhal, the Mission Director.
It is the most complex mission ever attempted by India’s Space Agency.
Commenting on the launch, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Chairman of ISRO, said the agency’s staff had worked tirelessly to fix the fault and had “bounced back with flying colours”.
“It is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon, and to land at a place near the south pole to carry out scientific experiments to explore the unexplored,” said Sivan.
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