The integrated launch vehicle has already been moved into the second launch pad (umbilical tower) and launch rehearsals are underway, sources in India Space Research Organisation at Bangalore said.

"All the preparatory work is going as usual and the formal countdown would begin tomorrow morning about 0400 hrs," Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Associate Director Dr M Y S Prasad told PTI at Chennai.

"All the work including the checking of payloads went satisfactorily. The spacecraft launch would take place as per the schedule," he said.

SDSC officials said if the weather turns out to be good, the PSLV-C11 would take off from the second launch pad on October 22, at 0620 hours.

"After the rehearsals, we will make sure that everything is in place before the countdown," they said.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first spacecraft mission of ISRO beyond Earth orbit. It would be followed by Chandrayaan-2 which features a lander and a rover. India and Russia would jointly participate in this project.

However, there might be a provision to accommodate payloads from other space agencies as happened in Chandrayaan-1.

"This apart, studies are being conducted by ISRO on sending unmanned spacecraft to planet Mars as well as to asteroids and comets. Through such programmes, ISRO intends to undertake the exploration of space besides its primary mission of developing and utilising space technology for the overall development of the country", officials of the Bangalore-headquartered agency said.

PSLV-C11, chosen to launch Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, is an upgraded version of ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle standard configuration. Weighing 316 tonnes at lift-off, the vehicle uses larger strap-on motors to achieve higher payload capability.

PSLV-C11 is 44.4 metre tall and has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately.

Chandrayaan-I spacecraft carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) weighs about 1,400 kg at the time of its launch and is shaped like a cuboid with a solar panel projecting from one of its sides.

The state-of-the-art subsystems of the spacecraft, some of them miniaturised, facilitate the safe and efficient functioning of its 11 scientific instruments.

The payloads through which Chandrayaan-1 intends to achieve its objectivies are: to expand scientific knowledge about the moon; to upgrade India's technological capability and to provide challenging opportunities for planetary research to the younger generation of Indian scientists.

"The moon mission aims to achieve these well defined objectives through high-resolution remote sensing of moon in the visible, near infrared, microwave and x-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With this, preparation of a three-dimensional atlas of the lunar surface and chemical and mineralogical mapping of entire lunar surface is envisaged," SDSC officials said.

The instruments - five entirely designed and developed in India, three from European Space Agency (one of which is developed jointly with India and the other with Indian contribution), one from Bulgaria and two from United States -- were carefully chosen on the basis of many scientific and technical considerations as well as their complementary/ supplementary nature, ISRO sources said.

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