An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country's 45-year-old space programme.

Two days before the launch of India's first lunar orbiter, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair said on Monday that India will plant its flag on the moon to help establish its presence on the earth's only natural satellite.

The space race at the beginning of the space age greatly accelerated the development of human spaceflight, raising the question of what would have happened without that competition. Dwayne Day examines the current state of Indian and Chinese human spaceflight planning to see what a more "normal" development might be like -- if there is such a thing.

The U.S. Senate has approved a historic agreement that opens up nuclear trade with India for the first time since New Delhi conducted a nuclear test three decades ago, giving the Bush administration a significant foreign policy achievement in its final months.

Indian space scientists expect to map the lunar surface for the helium-3 (He-3) mineral to fuel nuclear power plants and frozen water as they make final preparations for India’s mission to the moon, expected to blast off next month.

Nations with secondary space programs--some of which once joined China in criticizing U.S. space-control policy--are now promoting their own ideas of controlling space through advanced communications and networking. At the Strategic Space and Defense conference in Omaha (Oct. 9 to 11), military leaders from France and India were among those advocating a new role for nations operating in the United States' shadow.

China and India both are planning to launch moon shots within a year in the latest sign of the two Asian powerhouses' intensifying rivalry and growing technological prowess.

India's space scientists are reaching out further into the universe. Even as an unmanned mission to the moon is readying for launch, and a manned mission to space awaits final approval from the government, they are already eyeing the next destination - Mars.

India carried out a successful test on Thursday of its longest-range ballistic missile, the Agni III, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead more than 3,000 km (1,900 miles). Defense analysts say the Agni III is primarily designed to counter the military strength of China, which also has nuclear weapons.

India has begun to develop a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarine to give the nation a sea-based platform for its strategic nuclear deterrent, according to a former head of the Indian navy.