BY : PTI

India will send an astronaut into space on one of its own rockets by 2015 and embark on a manned mission to the moon by 2020, the country's space agency chief said on Friday.

Before sending an astronaut to the moon, the country will send the Chandrayaan-I satellite to the moon next year, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Madhavan Nair said.

"India will be launching Chandrayaan-I by mid-next year for carrying out scientific experiments on the moon," he said after inaugurating an information and communication technology gallery at the Raman Science centre.

The satellite with a payload of 560 kg will carry instruments to study the moon's surface. It will be launched on the PSLV rocket around August next year, Nair said.

Chandrayaan-I will orbit the moon and take visuals and photographs of its surface. It will remain in orbit for two years and this will be first experiment of its kind by ISRO as part of the planned lunar mission, he said.

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space but he travelled on a Russian rocket.

Nair also said the ISRO has acquired the capability to commercially launch satellites for other countries. A UN organisation is working to minimise debris in space and exploring ways to get rid of this problem, he said. Nair lauded Maharashtra's role in using tele-medicine and tele-education technology.