India has announced plans for a moon mission, along with setting up a space station by 2040, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

The world's most populous country is ramping up its space program, and is preparing for a test flight for its first crewed space mission on Saturday.

India "should now aim for new and ambitious goals," including setting up an Indian Space Station by 2035 and "sending first Indian to moon by 2040," the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

"To realize this vision, the Department of Space will develop a roadmap for moon exploration," the statement added.

The three-day manned mission to outer space is called Gaganyaan or "Skycraft." It is expected to take place next year and would cost about $1.08 billion (€1.02 billion), according to India's space agency ISRO.

India's space ambitions

India is known for running low-budget space operations. Experts say this is made possible by streamlining existing technologies, and employing a vast pool of engineers in India who are not paid as much compared to their global counterparts. 

In August, India became the first country to land a craft near the lunar south pole. Last month, India also launched a successful mission by launching a spacecraft to observe the outer layers of the sun.

In 2014, ISRO put a satellite into orbit around Mars, and launched 104 satellites 2017.

India also has plans to jointly launch a moon probe with Japan, land a craft on Mars, and send a mission to Venus in the next two years.

India says it only accounts for two percent of the $386 billion (€384 billion) global space economy, a share it hopes to increase to nine percent by 2030.

tg/wmr (AFP, Reuters)