India has become the first country in the world to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.

Prior to the landing, which took place on Wednesday as scheduled, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) explained how the Chandrayaan-3 mission would progress.

Before the spacecraft touched down on the moon, it went through a series of manoeuvres to gradually reduce its orbit and position it over the lunar poles.

After these manoeuvres, the propulsion module then separated from the lander while in orbit.

Then a series of complex braking manoeuvres were carried out to facilitate a soft landing in the South Polar region of the Moon.

"This is the heartbeat of 1.4 billion people," said prime minister Narendra Modi during a speech to the ISRO, as reported by Sky News. "This is the new India, the new beginning, the new thinking of the new efforts."

He continued: "This is a feature of the shine of India - we made a promise and we made it true on the surface of the moon. This is an historic moment, and for every Indian, we are all very proud."

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