India’s space ambitions got a boost when it became the first country to land a spacecraft near the unexplored south pole of the moon in August, just days after a similar Russian mission failed, and the fourth overall to achieve a soft landing.

After that success, India launched a rocket to study the sun and is scheduled conduct a test later this week as part of its crewed space mission.

“Prime minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending first Indian to the moon by 2040,” the government said in a statement.

“To realize this vision, the Department of Space will develop a roadmap for moon exploration,” it added.

Modi has also called on scientists to work on missions to Venus and Mars.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) LVM3 launch rocket blasted off from the country’s main spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Friday afternoon, leaving behind a plume of smoke and fire.

About 16 minutes later, ISRO’s mission control announced that the rocket had succeeded in putting the Chandrayaan-3 lander into an Earth orbit that will send it looping toward a moon landing next month.

If the mission succeeds, India would join a group of three other countries that have managed a controlled lunar landing, including the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft would also be the first to land at the lunar south pole, an area of special interest for space agencies and private space companies because of the presence of water ice that could support a future space station.

The rocket blasted off from India’s main spaceport at 2:35 p.m. local time (0905 GMT). Over 1.4 million people watched the launch on ISRO’s YouTube channel, many offering congratulations and the patriotic slogan “Jai Hind” (Victory to India).

In 2020, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander and rover were destroyed in a crash near where the Chandrayan-3 will attempt a touchdown.

Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, includes a 2-metre-(6.6-foot)-tall lander designed to deploy a rover near the moon’s south pole, where it is expected to remain functional for two weeks running a series of experiments.

The lunar landing is expected on Aug. 23, ISRO has said.

The launch is India’s first major mission since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced policies to spur investment in space launches and related satellite-based businesses.

Modi had earlier said on Twitter that the moon mission “will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation”.

“As Mother India enters into the next 25 years, she pledges to play a leading global role in the emerging world scenario,” Deputy Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said in an event at the spaceport to celebrate the launch.

Since 2020, when India opened to private launches, the number of space startups has more than doubled. Late last year, Skyroot Aerospace, whose investors include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, launched India’s first privately built rocket.

The delegation led by Space Commission’s CEO Dr. Mohammed Saud Al-Tamimi, visited India between March 6-10, and held extensive discussions with a number of Indian organizations, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Indian space-related business entities including New Space India Limited and Centum Electronics.

Dr. Al-Tamimi met with S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, during the trip, and he also paid visits to the U R Rao Satellite Center in Bengaluru and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Saudi delegation also visited the National Remote Sensing Centre, and the Indian Institute of Space Sciences and Technologies.

India and Saudi Arabia have a significant amount of space cooperation, and it is anticipated that this visit will improve their relationship in this sector.

Dr. Al-Tamimi received an invitation from ISRO Chairman to attend the G20 Space Economy Leaders Conference in Bengaluru in July 2023. Also, Dr. Al-Tamimi extended an invitation to the Chairman to attend the Space Economy Forum scheduled for Saudi Arabia at the end of this year.

The visit is viewed as a move in the right direction for advancing the two nations’ relationship in the space industry.