India-Russia space mission in 2015

TNN, Apr 15, 2011, 03.52am IST

MUMBAI: An Indian cosmonaut will first go on a Russian space mission in 2015, prior to the Indian manned mission in 2017, Alexey M Mzareulov, deputy consul-general of the Russian Federation, announced here on Wednesday night. He made the announcement at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin, organized by the Russian Centre for Science & Culture, which saw many American diplomats.

Isro and the Russian agency Roskosmos will build the spacecraft for the mission in 2015. If it is successful, India will become the fourth nation after Russia, the US and China, to send a manned mission into space, he said.