Huge crowds gather at National Space Centre in Leicester to watch India's moon touchdown
Rajiv Popat reports from the National Space Centre in Leicester on a historic day for India
People gathered at the National Space Centre in Leicester on Wednesday as India became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the south pole of the moon.
It was a historic first and it came just days after Russia failed its mission to a similar area.
Large crowds gathered at the National Space Centre in Leicester to watch the moment touchdown happened.
People of Indian heritage in the city say it's something they didn't think they'd ever get to see the country achieve.
Speaking to ITV News Central the Indo-British Trade Council said it is expecting Leicester to be 'better than Birmingham or London in the future in this area'
"A great place to be at the Space Centre in Leicester to celebrate the achievement", said Uday Dholakia. "I think this is tremendous news for Leicester and Leicestershire because we have a forward-going programme on research in space with the universities".
"With the soft power leg we have with India I can see Leicester punching above its weight even above Birmingham or London in the future in this area", he adds.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the historic landing from South Africa, where he is participating in the BRICS nations summit.
Waving his country's tri-coloured flag, he said: “India is now on the moon. India has reached the south pole of the moon — no other country has achieved that. We are witnessing history.”
The Vikram lander, named after Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) founder Vikram Sarabhai, is carrying a 26kg six-wheeled rover called Pragyaan - the Sanskrit word for wisdom.
They are configured to provide data to the scientific community on the properties of lunar soil and rocks, including chemical and elemental compositions.