Indian spacecraft will attempt moon landing in September

NEW DELHI — The Indian space agency plans to launch the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft between July 6 to 19 as it will attempt to land on the moon on September 6.

According to a press release by the Indian Space Research Organization, the spacecraft will comprise a lander, a rover and an orbiter.

The rover will be housed within the lander.

Once Chandrayaan-2 gets within 100 km of the moon's orbit, the lander will separate from the orbiter and will attempt to land on the moon's surface.

The lander will have a soft landing at a site close to the moon's south pole, the Times of India reports.

The rover will then be able to move around semi-autonomously. It will analyze the moon's surface and send back data to earth.

However, the orbiter will continue revolving around the moon and scanning it to collect scientific information.

According to the Times of India, the country had previously launched its lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 in 2008.