India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has taken its first images of the moon after entering lunar orbit on Saturday.

A video released by India’s space agency (ISRO), shows the craters on the moon’s surface as the spacecraft approaches.

Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover are expected to reach the moon’s surface on August 23rd, with a “soft landing” at the south pole.

According to BBC News, it will become only the fourth to achieve such a landing after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

Scientists say Chandrayaan-3, the third in India’s programme of lunar exploration, is expected to build on the success of its earlier Moon missions.

(Photo credit: www.isro.gov.in)