India to launch a spaceship to explore Mars: PM

An Indian spaceship will go to Mars and collect important scientific information, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced on Wednesday.

An Indian spaceship will go to Mars and collect important scientific information, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced on Wednesday.

"This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology," the Prime Minister said in his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort.

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Manmohan Singh also congratulated Indian scientists and technocrats for successfully testing the Agni V missile and for launching the RISAT-I satellite in space this year.

The Mars Mission envisages launching an orbiter around the red planet using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket during November 2013.

The Mars orbiter will have a provision for carrying nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO's) Mars project got a big boost as the government made a budgetary allocation of Rs 125 crore this year for its launch.

ISRO has completed a significant amount of work on the planned Mars Mission.

The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission would be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet.