Telegraph
India has declared itself the world’s leader in cheap space exploration after its prime minister claimed its Mars mission will cost less than the Oscar-winning science-fiction thriller Gravity.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister, made his claim today at the launch of India’s latest rocket to put a French satellite into the Earth’s orbit.
It is the fifth successful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launch and Mr Modi used the occasion to assert India’s claim to be the world’s cheapest producer of rocket launchers and pitch for a larger slice of the £180 million per year space market.
India has scored significant successes in space exploration in recent years. Despite some glitches, its 2008 Chandrayaan lunar mission discovered sources of water on the Moon and its Mangalyaan Mars orbiter was launched without a hitch in November last year.........[Read
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