The Indian lunar ship 3 is only 4313 kilometers from the moon and is expected to land on the moon on August 23.

CTOnews.com, August 7 (Xinhua)-- the Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) announced on its official Twitter early this morning that India's third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, has further shortened the lunar orbital distance, which is only 170km (perilunar point) x 4313 km (apogee) from the moon as of press time.

The next operation to further shorten the spacecraft's orbit is scheduled to be completed between 13:00 and 14:00 local time on Aug. 9, and a soft landing on the moon's south pole is expected to be attempted on Aug. 23, officials said.

Lunar ship 3 successfully entered the scheduled orbit near the moon on Saturday local time. The spacecraft will make three more maneuvering flights around the moon before the landing module leaves the propulsion module on August 17. Subsequently, the lander will be derailed before finally landing on the moon.

CTOnews.com previously reported that ISRO successfully launched the lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on the afternoon of July 14, four years after the agency's last failed mission.

▲ Tuyuan ISRO "Moonboat 3" was carried on the Indian heavy carrier rocket LVM3, which is 43.5m high and weighs about 642t. ISRO Chairman Somanath said that the launch mission has been a complete success, and then Moonboat 3 will begin its own journey to the moon.

According to the plan, Lunar ship 3 will make a soft landing near the South Pole of the moon before August 23. If successful, India will become the fourth country after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.