<span style="color: #222222;">As the NDA Government has completed nine years in office, Akashvani News brings a series of special stories on the initiatives taken by the government. Today, we take a look at the space sector.<br />”<br />”Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened up the space sector for private participation leading to more than 105 startups in the space sector within just about three years. India's other flagship space programmes also include Mangalyan2.<br />”<br />”Akashvani correspondent reports, Following the successful ion of the Mars Orbiter Mission (also called Mangalyaan) into Martian orbit, ISRO announced its intent to launch a second mission to Mars on 28 October 2014. &nbsp;<br />”<br />”In January 2016, India and France signed a letter of intent for ISRO and CNES to jointly build MOM 2 by 2020, but by April 2018, France was not yet involved in the mission.<br />”<br />”The Indian government-funded MOM 2 in its 2017 budget proposal. &nbsp; Former Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr K. Sivan announced that Mangalyaan 2 will only be an orbiter mission.<br />”<br />”The mission would include a very high-resolution panchromatic camera and a radar to better understand the early stages of Mars, its early crust, recent basalts, and ongoing activities such as boulder falls.<br />”<br />”The Indian Space Research Organization plans to launch this mission by 2024.</span><br />