Spacewatch: India’s moon mission arrives in lunar orbit

If Chandrayaan-2 is successful, it will make India the fourth country to reach the moon's surface

India's moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, has arrived in lunar orbit. The spacecraft is engaged in a series of manoeuvres that will place it in its final operating orbit, a circular path looping over the moon's poles at an altitude of 100km (62 miles).

Chandrayaan-2 entered lunar orbit at about 0500 BST on 20 August. Its initial orbit was highly elliptical, swinging from 114km above the moon to 18,072km. A second rocket burn on 21 August changed this to 118km and 4,412km.