India now eyes its day in the sun with its 'Aditya' launch

As the country rejoiced the successful placement of the Isro lander - Vikram - on the Moon's uncharted South Pole, the agency's chairman S Somanath on Thursday confirmed that its maiden solar mission 'Aditya' is in the works and will be ready for launch in September.

In a brief address to the nation after the lander touched down on the Moon's dark side on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alluded to future missions to the Sun and Venus.

The Isro chief said, "Mission 'Aditya' is in the works and will be ready for launch in the first week of September. We are also planning a mission by the end of September or October to demonstrate our crew module and crew escape capability, which will be followed by many test missions until we launch our first manned mission to space (Gaganyaan), possibly by 2025."