India plans to launch 60 space missions in 5 years

NEW DELHI - India is planning to launch at least 12 space missions every year for the next five years, a top official of the state-owned space agency has reportedly said.

"We have already launched 55 missions during the past five years and we are looking at 12 launches per annum in the next five years," Y.V.N. Krishna Murthy of Indian Space Research Organisation said.

Murthy, who is Secretary (science) of the space agency, told the media Wednesday on the sidelines of the Make in India week celebrations in Mumbai.

"We have already launched two missions this year and two more will be launched next month, and the space agency's budget will be around $1.1 billion this year," he said.

According to the space official, the next lunar mission, Chandrayan-II, will be launched in 2017-18 and this mission will be different from the earlier one.

"Unlike Chandrayan-I which was having only Orbiter and Probe, Chandrayan-II will be having Lander and Rover too, and the Rover will move on the samples and transmit the data to Earth," he added.