New Delhi (PTI): India's maiden moon mission could begin its space odyssey in December if it misses its earliest launch window of October 19-26, former ISRO chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan has said.

The cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal extends all through November which rules out the possibility of space launches, he said.

Chandrayaan-I, which is being assembled at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, will be launched from the Satish Dhawan spaceport at Sriharikota on the eastern coast.

The spacecraft, which will orbit the moon at a distance of 100 km, was unveiled in Bangalore last week. It is yet to undergo vibration and acoustic tests.

For the vibration test, the spacecraft integrated with all its components would be put through a simulated environment similar to the vibrations emitted while being launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The acoustic test would simulate sound equivalent to 10 jet engines to ensure integrity of systems and to ensure that noise does not create any disturbance or affect the functioning of any component.

"The mission is progressing as per the strict timeline," said Kasturirangan, who got the mission going when he was at the helm of affairs at the Indian Space Research Organisation.