It will be a quantum jump for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when it launches unmanned Moon orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, India's first spacecraft mission beyond the earth orbit, on October 22.
The tentative launch is fixed for 0621 hrs when the improvised PSLV-C11 will soar into the sky from the Satish Dhavan Space Centre (SHAR), the island in Andhra Pradesh facing Bay of Bengal with the sprawling Pulikad Lake separating it from the land on the one side.
It will carry the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft with 11 payloads, including six from foreign countries.
The mood among the ISRO scientists is upbeat and nearly 1000-strong experts have worked day and night for the past one year.
All four stages of the 83 metre tall PSLV-C11 is fully integrated at the second launch pad with the spacecraft undergoing final tests a few kilometre away.
At Bylalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, ISRO has set up the Indian Deep Space Network, which includes two massive dish antennae, one with 32-metre diameter and other with 18 meter.
This will be the master control facility for Chandrayaan-1 which would be orbiting 100 km above the Moon after it is put into its slot on November 8.
''This mission is very different for ISRO which is making a big leap from the 40,000 km Earth orbit to nearly four lakh km Moon orbit.
''Our aim is to further expand our knowledge about Earth's only natural satellite -- the Moon,'' SHAR Director M Chandra Dathan told the visiting reporters from Bangalore here on Tuesday.
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