India's Lunar Mission is New Step in Asian Space Race

India's first unmanned moon mission blasted into space yesterday, joining the Asian space race with Japan and China and signaling India's intent to be a global power.

The mission, launched from the Sriharikota space center north of Chennai, was broadcast live on television to the sound of the Star Wars film soundtrack.

"What we have started is a remarkable journey," said G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who was visiting Japan, said: "Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them."

The launch follows unmanned lunar probes from China and Japan last year.

The Chandrayaan I spacecraft is expected to reach lunar orbit early next month and spend two years scanning the moon for evidence of water and precious metals. India is hoping the mission will boost its space program into the same league as its rival Asian powerhouses. Nair said the space agency was aiming at a manned flight by 2015. Work on a two-person capsule was already under way.

As well as seeking a larger share of the commercial satellite launch market, India, Japan and China see their space programs as important for creating an image of powerful nation-states. In 2003 China became only the third nation to put a man into space, after the US and Russia. Last month Chinese astronauts walked in space.

It is clear India does not want to be left behind. By 2011 it will send a rover on to the lunar surface.

The current mission carries 11 instruments: five from India, two from the US, and one each from Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria.