India has launched its first Mars-bound spacecraft in a complex mission it hopes will demonstrate and advance space travel technology.

Hundreds of people watched Mangalyaan, which means "Mars craft" in Hindi, take off from the east-coast island of Shriharikota and streak across the sky. Many more across the country watched live TV broadcasts provided by the Indian Space and Research Organisation (Isro).

The orbiter blasts off from Sriharikota. (Jagadeesh Nv/EPA)

The 1,350kg (3,000lb) Mangalyaan orbiter will first head for an elliptical orbit around Earth, after which a series of technical manoeuvres and short burns will raise its orbit before it slingshots towards Mars.

Mangalyaan must travel 485m miles over 300 days to reach an orbit around the red planet next September.

India is aiming to follow the US, Russia, and Europe in having a successful mission to Mars.

Some have questioned the $72m (£45m) price tag for a country of 1.2 billion people still dealing with widespread hunger and poverty. But India defended the Mars mission and its $1bn space programme by noting its importance in providing hi-tech jobs for scientists and engineers and practical applications in solving problems on Earth.

Decades of space research has allowed India to develop satellite, communications and remote sensing technologies that are helping to solve everyday problems at home, from forecasting where fish can be caught by fishermen to predicting cataclysmic storms and floods.