Chandrayaan-1 launched successfully, PM congratulates scientists

PSLV-C11 carrying India's first unmanned moon spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 lifted off successfully from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre today.

At the end of the 49-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-C11 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle weighing 316 tonnes at the time of launch, soared majestically into partially cloudy sky at 6.22 am from the space port, 100 km north of Chennai.

This is the 14th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 29 satellites into a variety of orbits since 1993. This launch vehicle uses larger strap-on motors to achieve higher payload capability.

The 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.

At the end of the 49-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-C11 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage at 6.22 am.

"The successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, India's first unmanned scientific mission to the moon, marks the first step in what we hope will be a historic milestone in India's space programme,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

In a message to the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation congratulating them on the successful launch, the prime minister said: 'I congratulate all the scientists associated with this mission for the successful completion of the first step. When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries which have thus far sent space missions to the moon. Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them."

ISRO chief jubilant over successful launch of Chandrayaan-1

“My heartiest congratulations to you all for the remarkable job. A remarkable journey to the moon has begun,” a jubilant G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said on the successful launch of India's first mission to the moon on Wednesday morning.

“We have fought against many odds, including the weather in the last few days, to achieve this success.”
“We will be completing the second part of the journey in about two weeks time,” Nair said, referring to placing India's lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 on an orbit just 100 km above the surface of the moon.

As soon as the 1.38-tonne Chandrayaan-1 carrying eleven payloads separated from ISRO's launch workhorse, PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) to orbit on its own, Nair and his colleagues shook hands and hugged one another to mark the successful launch.

The launch was described by scientists at the Sriharikota (SHAR) spaceport, 80 km from Tamil Nadu capital Chennai, as a “beautiful, textbook launch”.

Within seconds of blast-off in a sky that was only lightly speckled by clouds, the PSLV achieved a speed of one seven km per second and soared aloft, leaving behind a plume of fire and smoke, before it completed its mission.

As the various ground tracking stations of ISRO started receiving signals from the orbiting Chandrayaan-1 that all was well, the organisation also started receiving congratulatory messages from space agencies and scientists around the world.