The final countdown for India's ambitious Rs 430-crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will begin the morning of November 3 even as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conducts a full launch rehearsal on Thursday.
The rehearsal of the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) will last over eight hours. According to PSLV-C25 mission director P. Kunhikrishnan, during the launch rehearsal, except for pressing the ignition button, every other activity related to the rocket launch will be carried out.
"The countdown for the Mars Orbiter Mission will begin Sunday at 6.08 am," K. Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters on Wednesday.
The PSLV-C25 rocket carrying the MOM will blast off at 2.38 pm on November 5 from Sriharikota, around 80 km from Chennai.
Radhakrishnan reiterated that India is not in the space race with any other nation.
Queried about India's second mission to the moon, he said the space agency is awaiting funds clearance from the government to develop a lander, and a rover is being developed.
The moon lander might be ready and qualified by 2016, Radhakrishnan said, adding that the moon mission will be on India's heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
After two successful GSLV missions, ISRO will be confident of going ahead with the moon mission on its heavier rocket, Radhakrishnan said.
He also said ISRO would fly GSLV rockets prior to the moon mission. According to him, the next GSLV mission with GSAT-14 satellite is slated for this December.
In July, ISRO called off its GSLV mission prior to the launch, due to some fuel leakage. The notable aspect of the mission is that the rocket is fitted with an ISRO-developed cryogenic engine.
A paramilitary soldier walks past the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh on October 30. PHOTO: AP 
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