ISRO says, 'India nowhere less than China in the arena of space'

India is nowhere less than China in the arena of space, and after the success of human space mission project "Gaganyaan", it will be equal to its neighbour in all aspects related to the field, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said on Friday.

A Chinese lunar rover landed on the dark side of the moon earlier this month, in a global first that boosts Beijing's ambitions to become a space superpower.

India's planned mission, Chandrayaan-2, is also expected to land on the Moon's South Pole, a region unexplored by any country so far, Mr Sivan said. The plan was to initially launch the mission in April last year, but it has now been postponed to the first quarter of this year.

"We are nowhere less than China," Mr Sivan said.

He said India is at par in regards to launch vehicles and spacecraft.

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India has announced that "Gaganyaan" will take off by 2022, while China launched its first manned space mission in 2003.

"They had the human space capability, which we did not have, but once we have a successful Gaganyaan project by 2022, we will be equal to them in all aspects," Mr Sivan said.

He said after the launch of South Asian satellite in 2017, Nepal has started using it for broadcasting television in remote and far-flung places "where people have said they have seen television for the first time" with the help of the satellite.

Read: Mission Gaganyaan: First Manned Mission To Space By December 2021, Announces ISRO Chief