New Delhi, July 12 -- India is looking to take a giant leap in its space program and solidify its place among the world's spacefaring nations with its second unmanned mission to the moon, this one aimed at landing a rover near the unexplored south pole.

The Indian Space Research Organization plans to launch a spacecraft using homegrown technology on Monday, and it is scheduled to touch down on the moon Sept. 6 or 7. The $141 million Chandrayaan-2 mission will analyze minerals, map the moon's surface and search for water.

It will "boldly go where no country has ever gone before," ISRO said in a statement.

With India poised to become the world's fifth-largest economy, the ardently nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is...