MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully launched from the space center in the Bay of Bengal earlier on Monday will explore the lunar surface in the Moon’s south pole, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter.

"Chandrayaan-2 is unique because it will explore and perform studies on the south pole region of lunar terrain which is not explored and sampled by any past mission. This mission will offer new knowledge about the Moon," the premier wrote.

The PM added that he hoped that "Chandrayaan-2 will further encourage our bright youngsters towards science, top quality research and innovation."

The Chandrayaan-2 space mission consists of an orbiter, a landing module and a small rover. The project developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) envisages the module’s landing in the Moon’s south pole region that has never been explored before. Also, the mission’s 27kg rover Pragyan (which stands for "knowledge" and "wisdom" in the Sanskrit) is expected to operate for at least one lunar day (14 Earth days), getting energy from a solar panel. Meanwhile, the mission’s orbiter is set to operate in the Moon’s orbit for about twelve months.

The Chandrayaan-2 space probe is intended to continue India’s lunar program launched by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that lifted off towards the Earth’s natural satellite in 2008. While the Chandrayyan-1 mission involved only an orbiter, the Chandrayaan-2 is a more complex project, designed to help India become the world’s fourth country after the United States, Russia and China that has made a soft landing on the Moon.