The launch was expected by March end or mid-April and the exact date would be finalised at the mission readiness review meeting on February 10, he told reporters here.

The satellite, which would be launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, has a 0.8 metre resolution. This makes it capable to even take pictures of a car on the ground. Radhakrishnan said NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) want to be part of Chandrayaan-II, the next Indian mission to Moon, by sending their instruments.

"They are all there actually (they have sent proposals)," he added NASA and ESA are among "several candidates" who have evinced interest in Chandrayaan-2, he said. "There is discussion going on that... And there is a team which is discussing with various scientists... Scientific Advisory Board.

You look at all the requirements and what experiments we need to do and what mass is available and what they would require and from Chandrayaan-I, what are all the things that you have to follow up.

This will be taken care of soon," he said. India had hosted six foreign instruments in its maiden moon odyssey Chandrayaan-I - three from ESA, two from NASA and one from Bulgaria. Chandrayaan-I carried India's five instruments.

However, Radhakrishnan indicated that the number of instruments on board Chandrayaan-II is likely be less than the one carried by Chandrayaan-I, which had 11.

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