Bangalore, Oct 10 : Chandrayaan I, India ''s spacecraft mission to moon will be launched on October 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikotta.

The spacecraft has been fully integrated with all instruments and is presently under going final stages of tests at the launch complex.

ISRO Chairman Mr Madhavan Nair said the mating of the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and the satellite would take place on October 17.

The tall and elegant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) that will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit is fully integrated at Sriharikota’s second launch pad. After having sailed through thermal and vacuum tests that simulated the conditions in deep space last month, Chandrayaan-1 is coursing through the final stages of vibration tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore to determine the integrity of its systems.

At Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, two massive dish antennae, one with a 32-metre diameter and the other with a diameter of 18 metres, are ready to track Chandrayaan-1 during its
3.84-lakh km. odyssey to the moon, send commands and receive information on its health.

Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments – five from India and six from other countries – to study the minerals and chemistry on the moon’s surface from an altitude of 100 km above.(ANI)