INDIA launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country’s dreams of a space station and a manned Moon mission.
The mission is “vital for India’s future space ambitions”, Jitendra Singh, the country’s science and technology minister, said in a statement ahead of the launch, which was broadcast live by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans last year to send a man to the Moon by 2040.
The PSLV-C60 rocket, which blasted off Monday evening at the Sriharikota launch site with shooting flames as it soared into the night sky, included two 220-kilogramme (485-pound) satellites.
ISRO has dubbed the mission SpaDeX, or Space Docking Experiment.
“PSLV-C60 successfully launches SpaDeX and 24 payloads,” it said in a statement.
AFP
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