SRIHARIKOTA, Oct 22 India launched its first unmanned moon mission on Wednesday, joining the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power.

Chandrayaan-1 (moon vehicle), a cuboid spacecraft built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) blasted off from a southern Indian space centre shortly after dawn in a boost for the country`s ambitions to gain more global space business.

“What we have started is a remarkable journey,” G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO, told reporters.

The successful launch comes less than a fortnight after India signed a landmark nuclear energy cooperation deal with the United States, ending decades of isolation and making it a de facto nuclear power.

The space operation is ostensibly about mapping the moon, but the mission comes on the heels of China`s first space walk last month, when Chinese astronauts were feted as national heroes.

It also follows unmanned probes from China and Japan in 2007.

India`s national television channels broadcast the countdown to the launch live. Some scientists thumped their chests, hugged each other and clapped as the rocket shot up into space.

“Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, while visiting Japan.

Greeted with patriotism in the media, the launch appeared to have distracted India from an economic slowdown, collapsing stock prices and outbreaks of ethnic and religious violence.

“India signals that it could be much more important player geo-politically and regionally,” said Seema Desai of London-based political risk consultants Eurasia Group.

“The mission and the nuclear deal have together put India in a different place.”—Reuters