'The motor on board Chandrayaan-1 was fired at 5.15pm (7.45pm Singapore time) for 805 seconds, which successfully puts the spacecraft into lunar orbit,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish announced yesterday.

An ISRO spokesman at the organisation's headquarters in Bangalore added: 'This was an extremely complex manoeuvre but we have achieved our mission of inserting the craft into lunar orbit without any hitch.'

Mission controllers hope the spacecraft's orbit will stabilise in about a week. It is then expected to send a probe to the moon's surface to carry out tests.

ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair was visibly jubilant. 'This will go down in the history of Indian space research in golden letters,' he told reporters.

During the two-year mission, the craft will provide a detailed map of mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE