India to send 70 space missions by 2012: ISRO chief

Bangalore, Apr 4 : India plans to undertake 70 space missions in five years, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair, told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.

"We have proposed something like 70 missions totally (in the 11th plan (April one 2007 to March 31, 2012) compared to about 26 missions in the tenth plan period," Nair said, adding that the proposed missions would include a "good mix" of both INSAT class satellites and remote sensing ones.

Nair said that the space missions would aim to address requirements of communication transponders and work in the fields of microwave remote sensing, hyper spectral and other new technologies of the future.

"Future developments will be towards the manned space mission and reusable satellites and Ka-band satellites," he added.

The 2008-09 annual budget for the Space Department has gone upto Rs 4,072 crore, a 25 per cent increase over the previous financial year, ISRO officials said.

ANI