India over the moon as it launches its first lunar probe

India has launched its first unmanned mission to the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1, or Moon Vehicle, blasted off from a southern Indian space centre shortly after dawn local time… in a boost for the country’s ambitions to gain more global space business.

The project cost around 60 million euros, considerably less than the Chinese and Japanese probes in 2007.

Barring technical hitches, the spacecraft will reach lunar orbit and spend two years scanning the moon for signs of water and precious metals.

India is planning a manned mission to space and then on to Mars in four years’ time.

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