India will send man to space for the first time in 2022

For the first time in history of India, India's space agency is planning to send Indian astronaut for seven days mission in space in 2022, ISRO Chairman K.Sivan said.

"Our plan is to have a human being in space for seven days and not less than that," Sivan told IANS. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving the Indian Space Research Organization the target to achieved the goal in the next four years.

This ambitious announcement was made on Wednesday, August 15, when Modi addressed the people of India, marking India's Independence Day in New Delhi.

The rocket to be used for the manned mission would be a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III(GSLV-MkIII). The first unmanned flight prior of a manned mission will be happening two years from now, Sivan said.

If successful, India would be the fourth nation to send a man into space, after Russia, the US and China.