Countries that have successfully soft landed on moon

As of today, only four countries -- Russia, the United States, China and India -- have achieved soft-landing on the moon.

India became the fourth country in the world to perform a soft landing on the moon today. In doing so, it also became the first ever country in the world to land on the south pole of the moon.

A moon landing, also referred to as lunar landing, encompasses the procedure of a spacecraft reaching and touching down on the moon's surface.

A soft landing denotes any form of aircraft, rocket, or spacecraft touchdown that avoids substantial harm to the vehicle or its cargo, as opposed to a hard landing.

Russia 

In September 1959, Russia (then the USSR) became the first country to achieve a successful moon landing. The USSR's unmanned Luna 2 spacecraft was the first man-made object to successfully land on the moon.

In February 1966, the USSR became the first country to achieve a successful soft lunar landing with Luna 9. Later in 1970, the USSR's successfully retrieved lunar samples through the unmanned Luna 16.

United States

In May 1966, the US achieved its first soft landing with Surveyor 1, a few months after the USSR.

In July 1969, America's Apollo 11 was the first spacecraft to carry humans to the surface. The United States is also the only country to land humans on the moon.

China

In December 2013, China's first lunar probe Chang'e-3 landed on the near side of the moon, incorporating a robotic lander and a lunar rover.

In January 2019, China's Chang'e-4 completed the successful soft landing on the "dark side" of the moon, being the first country to land a spacecraft on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth.

India

On 23 August 2023, India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft landed on the South Pole of the moon, being the first country to do so. This was India's second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon and comes less than a week after Russia's Luna-25 mission failed to attempt a landing at the lunar south pole.