India is planning a major new space challenge, a mission to Venus about a month after the country’s successful moon landing.
The head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, said that exploring Venus could provide important insights into the future of our planet.
He said the mission is expected to be launched in the coming years and it aims to study the surface and atmosphere of Venus.
Currently, an Indian probe is on its way to study the Sun.
According to ISRO, it would take about four months for it to reach the Sun’s orbit, and then, its outermost layers would be analysed.
In August, India became the fourth country ever to manage a soft landing on the moon.
India’s space programme began in the 1960s.
In the first decades, the focus was mainly on getting satellites into space cheaply.
India’s recent goals have been more ambitious, a sign that it wants a more important place in space exploration.
India has also conducted a mission to Mars.
