An Indian scientist monitors screens at Indian Space Research Organisation's satellite tracking Master Control Facility in 2003. [AFP/file]

BEIJING, Mar. 1 -- India is "a step ahead" of China in satellite technology and can surpass Beijing in space research by tapping the talent of its huge pool of young scientists, India's space research chief said.

    G Madhavan Nair said India and China were "on par (with each other) as far as rocket technology is concerned," the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

    Though China was ahead in planning a manned mission to the moon, "We are a step ahead of China in satellite technology," Nair, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation, told a gathering in the southern city of Coimbatore.

    Two years ago, India announced it would launch a mission to the moon -- the Chandrayan-I or Moon Vehicle I -- by 2007.

    The 590-kilogram (1,298-pound) Chandrayan-1 is expected to map the lunar terrain for minerals and conduct scientific experiments.

    The 2007 mission also aims at landing a small probe -- an "impacter" module weighing about 20 kilograms (44 pounds) -- on the surface of the moon.

    Besides India, the United States, the European Space Agency, China and Japan are planning lunar missions during the next decade.

(Source: China Daily)