The successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface has not only boosted the confidence of ISRO to undertake inter-planetary travel in future, but also conveyed a firm message to the world that India means business in the field of space, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said in Bangalore on Saturday.

"It (the landing of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) and the Chandrayaan-I mission) has validated many of our assumptions and many of the principles involved in interplanetary travel. It's really a big boon (for ISRO). We can now take up travel to any other planet with confidence," a jubilant Nair said in an interview, a day after the historic event.

On Friday night, the Indian space programme achieved a unique feat with the placing of the Indian tricolour on the Moon's surface. The Indian flag was painted on the sides of MIP, one of 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-I spacecraft that successfully hit the lunar surface at 20:31 hrs. This is the first Indian built object to reach the surface of the Moon.

"I am extremely happy that the nation has responded very positively to this event (MIP landing and Chandrayaan-I)", Nair, also the Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Nair said Chandrayaan-I was a coup of sorts in the branding stakes and ISRO's brand has skyrocketed with India's first unmanned Moon mission.

"ISRO's name has been high all the time. This is another significant event. I am sure in the global community, we will have much more respect than what was (there) in the past", he said.

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