As scientists are gearing up for the maiden launch of India's unmanned moon mission, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Saturday said it would help the country economically as well as strategically.

Coverage: India's Moon Mission

"The mission has economic and strategic value," Kalam told media persons on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi [Images] when asked to comment on the ambitious mission. He, however, refused to elaborate on it further.

The lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-I, India's first space mission beyond the earth's orbit, is scheduled for blast off on October 22 from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Chandrayaan-1 aims at expanding scientific knowledge about the moon, upgrade India's technological capability and provide challenging opportunities for planetary research to the younger generation of Indian scientists.

These well-defined objectives would be achieved through high-resolution remote sensing of moon in visible, near infrared microwave and x-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Meanwhile, ISRO scientists began launch rehearsal exercises at the Sriharikota spaceport as part of preparatory drill for the blast off.

A 52-hour countdown for the mission is expected to commence in the early hours of October 20.

India's most ambitious space mission to date would undertake comprehensive mapping of the Moon [Images] for the first time in the world. Earlier missions to moon by some other countries were aimed at specific regions or looked at only certain aspects.