Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairmain G. Madhavan Nair stated that India would send a manned mission into the space after the success of its first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1.

At a reception accorded to him during his first visit to his home town since the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1, Mr. Nair said, “The (manned) moon mission is a tough task and to achieve that our first task is to send an Indian astronaut on a manned mission to space, who will orbit the earth and return. For this, the sanction of the government has to come. We plan to achieve this by 2015.”

Mr. Nair also said that the next moon mission by the US and China is fixed for 2020, and India would also match the prowess of major space travel countries if it will be capable of sending a manned mission to the Moon by 2020.

“To achieve that, the space mission would provide the necessary boost. Another thing that is being planned is Aditya, a mission to study the solar system from the earth's orbit,” he added.

He further said that the success of the Chandrayaan-1 mission had instilled vast confidence in the scientific community of India. The mission did have its share of risks as any other space mission.