Isro looks to return to Mars, eyes Venus

Isro has emerged as the front runner for global space agencies to collaborate to understand earth better

India is planning to launch a return mission to Mars and a spacecraft to study asteroids, Venus and the sun, as it looks to build a body of scientific data to encourage more people to take up research.

So far, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has launched missions with Chandrayaan-1 for moon and Mangalyaan-1 for Mars, besides an observatory in space with Astrosat. In March, it is returning to the moon with a lander and a rover that would explore the earth’s satellite for water and helium. Subsequently, it will launch Aditya, a satellite that will carry instruments to understand