India’s first unmanned spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Saturday, 18 days after an Indian-built rocket transported it into outer space, Indian officials announced.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) director S. Satish announced: “The motor on board Chandrayaan-1 was fired at 5:15pm for 805 seconds, which successfully put the spacecraft into lunar orbit.”
“This was an extremely complex maneuver but we have achieved our mission of inserting the craft into lunar orbit without any hitch,” an ISRO spokesman said.
Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on Oct. 22, entered the moon’s space on Tuesday after orbiting the earth for several days.
Mission controllers hope the spacecraft’s orbit will stabilize in about a week, Satish said at the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore.
It is then expected to send a probe to the moon’s surface.
During a two-year orbital mission, it will provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon’s surface.
India is hoping the US$80 million mission will boost its space program into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China.
As well as looking to carve out a larger slice of the lucrative commercial satellite launch market, India, Japan and China also see their space programs as an important symbol of their international stature and economic development.
Some critics, however, have questioned the sense in spending so much money on space when hundreds of millions of Indians still live in dire poverty.
India started its space program in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies.
It first staked its case for a share of the commercial launch market by sending an Italian satellite into orbit in April last year. In January, it launched an Israeli spy satellite in the face of Iranian protests.
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