Andhra Pradesh: The 20-hour countdown began for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's Moon mission to the unexplored south polar region of Earth's natural satellite on Sunday morning. India's second lunar spacecraft will be launched at 2:51 am on Monday onboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-III from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) stated that the countdown started at 6.51 am today. Chandrayaan-2, which has home-grown technology, will explore a region of Moon where no mission has ever set foot. According to Kailasavadivoo Sivan, ISRO Chairman, the landing site, at a latitude of about 70 degrees south, is the southernmost for any mission till date. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover together referred to as "composite body". The probe's total mass is 3.8 ton and it is expected to land on Moon's south polar region on September 6 or 7 this year.