BENGALURU: Vikram, the lander, and Pragyan (rover), sitting inside Vikram were successfully separated from the orbiter on Monday, pushing India's

into the last and most crucial leg:

.

Next, after two de-orbit manoeuvres, Vikram is expected to touchdown on the lunar surface between 1.30am and 2.30am on September 7.

had announced that it would be at 1.55am.

On Monday, Isro carried out another flawless operation to separate the landing module (Vikram & Pragyan) from the orbiter, and all health parameters of both the orbiter-which will now go around

Moon

alone for at least a year-and the landing module were said to be normal.

"Vikram successfully separated from

orbiter at 1.15pm. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in its existing orbit. The health of the orbiter and lander is being monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Bylalu, near Bengaluru," Isro said.

All the systems of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and lander are healthy and the next maneuver is scheduled for September 03 between 8.45am and 9.45am.

The separation command was executed by the on board systems autonomously after Isro mission control had loaded the commands earlier in the day.

It was carried from an orbit the integrated spacecraft had achieved in Sunday after a 52-second manoeuvre -the 119kmX127km orbit-and sources said that everything went as per plan.

"...There will be two de-orbit maneuvers of Vikram to prepare for its landing in the south polar region of Moon," Isro had said.

The separation had removed the landing module - which was sitting on top of the orbiter - making Vikram independent for the first time since July 22 when the integrated Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was launched from

.

Now, Isro is less than a week away from Moon landing, a success at which will put India in an elite club of nations to have achieved such a feat. So far, only the US, Russia and China have managed to successfully land equipment on Moon.