India's 2nd moon mission completes 5th and final earth-bound orbit

India's second moon mission, or Chandrayaan-2, successfully completed its fifth and final earth-bound orbit and is on its journey towards the moon, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said on Tuesday.

The mission was launched on July 22.

A handout photo made available by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shows ISRO orbiter vehicle 'Chandrayaan-2', India's first moon lander and rover mission planned and developed by the ISRO GSLV MKIII-M1, blasting off from a launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India, July 22, 2019. [Photo: IC]

"Fifth Earth bound orbit raising maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today at 1504 hours as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 1041 seconds. The orbit achieved is 276 x 142975 km," ISRO said.

All spacecraft parameters are normal, it said, adding "the next maneuver is Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI), which is scheduled on August 14 between 0300 - 0400 hours."

Two days ago Chandrayaan-2 had sent the first set of pictures of the earth.

The spacecraft's "Lander" and the "Rover" are expected to touch down near the "Lunar South Pole" in early September.

The nearly 150 million U.S. dollars worth of moon mission aims at gathering data on water, minerals and rock formations on the lunar surface.