The 25.30-hour countdown for the launch of the country`s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 commenced on Thursday at the spaceport here, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Friday`s lunar expedition follows the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission where space scientists are aiming for a soft landing on the surface of the moon. A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat, the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.