India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 is likely to lift off in the early hours of Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, about 90km from Chennai, South India, Indo Asian News Agency reported Monday.
"The tentative launch date is Oct 22 though the window will be kept open till Oct 26. Depending on the weather, we plan to launch the lunar spacecraft around 6.30 a.m. IST," Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) director S. Satish was cited as saying.
The 1,380 kg spacecraft, built at ISRO's satellite centre in this IT hub, will be carried into lunar orbit by a specially designed 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11), with six strap-on propellants weighing 12 tonnes each.
"The integration will be completed by this week-end. All systems and instruments will be checked and tested for operational purposes," Satish noted.
"The spacecraft will orbit around the moon at an altitude of 100 km to map the topography and the mineralogical resources of the lunar soil," Satish added.
Source:Xinhua
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