India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 lifted off from Sriharikot in southern Andhra Pradesh, at 6:20 a.m. (0050 GMT) on Wednesday, according to NDTV.

　　Chandrayaan-1, with 11 scientific instruments (payloads) – six foreign and five Indian -- is the first spacecraft mission of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) beyond Earth orbit.

　　Chandrayaan-1 was adjusted into its expected path 20 minutes after it was blasted off. Local NDTV said that "it works well on its orbit now."

　　Scientists in the control room in Bangalore celebrated the successful launch of India's maiden moon mission with warm applause.

　　The director of this mission, Madhavan Nair, made a short speech and claimed this "a historic moment."

　　The scientific and mission objectives are to probe the origin and evolution of the moon, understand the mineralogy and presence of Helium-3, a relatively clean fuel for future generation nuclear reactors.

　　If the moon mission is successful, India will join an elite club of a small number of countries which have sent crafts into orbit around the moon.

　　The Indian Academy of Sciences started planning a lunar mission in 1999 and roped in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000.