Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India will carry out a manned space flight by 2022. Science writer Pallava Bagla asks whether the country's space agency can pick up the gauntlet.
Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation predict they will need $1.28bn (£1.01bn) to fulfil Mr Modi's challenge - and they think they can launch the flight within 40 months.
They hope to use the country's heaviest rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV Mk-III - for the space flight.