Space programme gets boost with 40 percent more funds

October 11th, 2009 MOSCOW - The re-entry capsule of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has landed safely in Kazakhstan's steppe Sunday, officials said. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, NASA's (US space agency) Michael Barratt and space tourist Guy Laliberte onboard the capsule landed safely in northern Kazakh steppe.

September 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia's last space freighter with an analogue control system will reenter the Earth's atmosphere Sunday before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, the Russian Mission Control said. The Progress M-67 cargo spaceship, which arrived at the International Space Station July 29, bringing 2.5 tonnes of supplies, including fuel, water and various equipment, successfully undocked from the world's sole orbiter Sep 21.

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - The discovery of water on the moon by Indian maiden lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 is just the breakthrough international space scientists were waiting for in order to kick start the moon exploration programme again, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) said Thursday. This is a massively impressive accomplishment, RAS Secretary Martin Barstow, a leading British astronomer, told IANS after American scientists made the stunning announcement that the Indian mooncraft had sent evidence of water on the lunar surface.

September 17th, 2009 BEIJING - The preliminary selection for candidates of China's second-batch of astronauts has been completed and candidates are 30 men and 15 women who are all air force pilots, authorities said Thursday. Among them, five men and two women would be the final candidates to join the space programme.

September 17th, 2009 BEIJING - China has selected 30 men and 15 women candidates in the second round of its space-training programme, officials said Thursday. All 45 candidates are air force pilots.

September 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) Tuesday after delivering supplies and equipment to boost the capacity of the orbiting laboratory. Pilot Kevin Ford backed Discovery away from the station at 1926 GMT for the trip back to Earth.

August 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that he was confident the department of Space and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would meet all challenges effectively.

August 21st, 2009 MOSCOW - South Korea will launch its first carrier rocket from the country's Naro Space Centre Aug 25, the Yonhap news agency reported Friday. South Korea postponed the launch of KSLV-1 after a technical problem Aug 19.

July 12th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a unit of the country's premier Indian space research programme, plans to send two humans into space by 2015, an official said here Sunday. Speaking to IANS, director of the VSSC unit here K.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - When Indias first manned mission to space takes off, possibly in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board. Let me promise you one thing, if there is a (Indian) man on moon (read space), it will be from the Indian Air Force, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told reporters here.

May 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Saturday named Charles Bolden, a black ex-astronaut, to lead the US space agency into its next chapter that could take it back to the moon. The retired Marine Corps general, 62, flew four times in the space shuttle in the '80s and '90s - two times as mission commander.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA officials said Thursday that the Obama administration will increase funding for the US space agency by five percent in 2010 and will conduct a review of its programme for manned space flight. The $18.7-billion budget represents a $903.6-million increase over 2009 and includes money given to NASA under President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - When India's first manned space mission takes off, likely in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board. The IAF is to train two of its personnel for the mission, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said a senior IAF official.

February 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India should undertake a strategic and comprehensive review of its space programmes as quickly as possible given 'the military character and military functions' of China's space programme, a senior US expert in Asian military affairs said Saturday. Painting a 'horror picture' of China's rapidly expanding global military reach, Richard Fischer Jr., a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in the US, said Indian private universities should begin satellite or space development programmes as has been done in the United States.

January 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As India reaches for the moon, one company is gearing up to offer the country its space-themed park, complete with a space camp, an aviation camp, fun rides demonstrating weightlessness, robotics, rocketry and even scuba diving, near Pune. Lavasa Corp, a subsidiary of infrastructure major Hindustan Construction Co, has signed an agreement with the Dubai-based Space Investment Co.