"India at heart, India in spirit," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi minutes after Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) declared on Twitter that "GSLV-MkIII-M1 had successfully placed Chandrayaan-2 into Earth's orbit."
At 2:43 PM, while the nation was glued to TV sets, GSLV-MkIII-M, carrying Chandryaan-2, India's historic mission to the moon, lifted off from Sriharikota Centre in Andhra Pradesh.
Delighted after the launch, Prime Minister, in a series of tweets, lauded the "prowess" of ISRO's scientists, adding the launch has "illustrated the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science."
"Every Indian is immensely proud," he said.
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The prime minister stressed the launch will encourage "our bright youngsters towards science, top-quality research and innovation."
"Thanks to Chandrayaan, India’s Lunar Programme will get a substantial boost. Our existing knowledge of the Moon will be significantly enhanced," he wrote on Twitter.
"This mission will offer new knowledge about the Moon."
He said these special moments will be "etched in the annals of our glorious history!"
Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
