New Delhi: The Chandrayan-I mission, India's first spacecraft to moon, announced by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his Independence Day speech, would place a satellite above moon and enable frontier scientific research, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on August 16.

The spacecraft, expected to be launched by 2008, would place a 525-kg satellite in a polar orbit 100 km above the moon which would obtain imagery of moon's surface using high-resolution remote sensing instruments.

It would also provide a unique opportunity for frontier scientific research by facilitating robots' landing on the moon and visits by Indian spacecraft to other planets in the solar orbit, ISRO said in a release.

The spacecraft would be launched using a modified version of the country's indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, it said.

Considering the interest expressed by the international scientific community, a provision has also been made to accommodate instruments from other countries as well, the release added.

PTI