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Indian Cabinet Approves Moon Mission

Posted on: Thursday, 11 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

NEW DELHI (AFP) -- India's cabinet approved a proposal by space authorities to send an unmanned mission to moon by 2008, an official spokesman said Thursday.

The mission called Chandrayan-I will cost 3.86 billion rupees (83 million dollars) and plans to put a 400 kilogramme (880 pound) satellite into orbit within the next five years using an Indian-made polar satellite launch vehicle.

Space officials say the major spin-offs of the programme would be the creation of a new cadre of planetary scientists in India in the next three years.

The satellite will probe the physical characteristics of the lunar surface, officials say.

The plan to undertake a lunar mission was suggested by Indian scientists and backed by aeronautical and astronautical engineers three years ago.

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