London (CNN) India hopes to become only the fourth country -- behind the US, the former Soviet Union and China -- to make a soft landing on the surface of the moon when its Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft attempts the feat early Saturday local time (Friday eastern time).

Chandrayaan-2, which translates as "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on July 22, a week after its first launch was called off due to a "technical snag".

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reported that its orbiter and landing module successfully separated on Monday -- six weeks into the mission.

It expects the lander and rover to touch down early Saturday local time. If successful, it will be the first time a spacecraft has landed on the moon's south polar region.

Once there, a rover will detach from the lander and start to map the south region, collecting mineral and chemical samples for remote scientific analysis.

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