India launches first moon mission

Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden moon spacecraft, was on Wednesday put into Transfer Orbit around the earth by the Polar Launch Vehicle PSLV-C11 about 19 minutes after it blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here.

The 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, carrying 11 payloads, was released into a Tansfer Orbit at a perigee (nearest point to earth) of about 250 km and apogee (farthest point from the earth) of about 23,000 km, 18.2 minutes after the PSLV-C11 blasted off as the scientists broke into jubilation at the mission control centre.

After a series of procedures over the next two weeks, the spacecraft would reach its desired Lunar orbit and placed at a height of 100 km from the Lunar surface, marking the operational phase of the mission which would put India in the elite lunar club.

Earlier, at the end of the 49-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-11 lifted off from the second launch pad into a cloudy sky.

This is the 14th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 29 satellites into a variety of orbits since 1993, and 13th successive one in a row.

Chandrayaan-1 is carrying 11 payloads, five entirely designed and developed in India, three from European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and two from US, which would explore the Moon over the next two years.

One of India's aims in reaching the moon is the possibility of harvesting helium 3, a key fuel for nuclear fusion. Although fusion is not commercially viable today, scientists say it one day will be, and that once it is a fuel supply will become a problem, as the Earth is believed to have only 15 tonnes of helium 3. The moon is thought to contain up to 5m tonnes.

Officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) remain tight-lipped about the possibility of a lunar land grab. UR Rao, a former director of Isro, was less circumspect, pointing out that the moon might have "enough [helium 3] to produce energy for 8,000 years". This view echoes that of the head of China's Chang'e project, who told the China Daily in 2006 that "each year three space shuttle missions could bring enough [helium 3] for all human beings across the world".

Last month, a Chinese astronaut completed a 15-minute space walk for the first time. However, India has big ambitions. There are proposals to put the first Indian into space by 2014 and to launch a manned lunar mission by 2020 - four years ahead of China's target date.