By Sunil Raman
BBC News, Delhi
India will launch its first unmanned mission to the moon on 22 October, the country's space officials say, weather conditions permitting.
The spacecraft, named Chandrayaan-1, will orbit round the moon surveying its surface with high-resolution equipment.
The launch had been scheduled for April. But it was pushed back due to technical problems.
The project will cost $83m and has the direct involvement of six other countries, including the United States.
Over the next two years, it will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of the moon's chemical characteristics and its three-dimensional topography.
The European Space Agency is supporting the mission, supplying with three instruments.
These will survey the moon's geological composition, the effect of space weathering on its surface and X-ray spectroscopy of the moon.
'Over ambitious'
India announced its moon mission in 2003.
It has also announced plans to send a man to the moon in the next few years.
The government's moon mission has not been welcomed by all.
Critics say it is "over ambitious" and a "waste of resources" in a country where millions still lack basic services.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was founded in 1969, and launched its first satellite in 1975.
Since then, it has developed a number of launch vehicles as well as satellites for Earth observation, remote sensing, telecommunications and weather forecasting.
Together with China and Japan, it is part of a fast-developing Asian space sector.
(BBC)
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