Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation Dr Madhavan Nair on Friday ruled out the possibility of an Indian manned space mission, saying such a programme is not on the cards.
"We do not find it necessary. The Resourcesat-1 launched today was equal to half a dozen people in space for a period
of five to six years," he told reporters.
Nair said ISRO will going ahead with its first 'unmanned mission' to moon within next five years. The mission, 'Chandrayaan', will cost Rs 380 crore and ISRO proposed to use the time-tested PSLV for it.
Improvements with regard to tracking and command control would have to be made before using the PSLV for the planned Lunar mission, he said.
Nair said the second launch pad in Sriharikota, built at a cost of Rs 400 crore, is expected to be commissioned by the middle of next year.
ISRO plans to use the second launch pad for its future GSLV and PSLV missions and also for the proposed launch of GSLV-Mark III.
ISRO is planning at least three launches every year for the next five years, Nair said.