India's first lunar mission blasted off from the national space centre on the southeastern coast early on Wednesday.

The unmanned lunar orbiting spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was launched with an Indian-built rocket at 6.22 am (0052 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, 80 kilometres north of Chennai.

Officials at the space centre said the launch had so far gone "according to plan."

The Chandrayaan-1 is being sent on a two-year orbital mission to provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface, at a cost of $80-million.

India is hoping the mission will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China.

As well as looking to carve out a larger slice of the lucrative commercial satellite launch market, India, Japan and China also see their space programmes as an important symbol of their international stature and economic development.

AFP