Chandrayaan II design ready

New Delhi, Dec 24 (ANI): India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said that the design for the country's second moon mission Chandrayaan II is ready.

Talking to the mediapersons here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to felicitate the members of the Chandrayaan I team, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said that it is all set for a 2012 launch.

"Chandrayaan II, the design is complete, we hope by 2012, we will be ready for the launch," he added.

The launch of Chandrayaan-2, approved by the Indian government will include a rover that will land on the moon.

Chandrayaan plans to map a three-dimensional atlas of the moon, and the surface's chemical and mineral composition.

India hopes to send an astronaut into space by 2012 and a manned mission to the moon by 2020.

India started its space programme in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies.

At least 16 Indian satellites currently orbit the earth, supporting telecommunications, TV broadcasting, earth observation, weather forecasting, remote education and healthcare.

India's constellation of seven earth-observation satellites is the largest in the world. (ANI)