"Space's benefit to the humanity particularly Indian people is our main priority," Radhakrishnan said yesterday at a function jointly organised by the Consulate General of India and Canada India Foundation here.
The ISRO chairman said that India is already using space technology for communications, telemedicine, long-distance education and information dissemination, monitoring weather and helping authorities respond to natural and made-made disasters.
Radhakrishnan, who was here to attend the 65th International Astronautical Congress which concluded today, said that India is building the world's most high-resolution civilian-operated Earth Observation satellite.
As part of its aspirations to build a regional navigational system equivalent to Global Positioning System of the US, ISRO plans to send seven satellites to put in place the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS).
On the success of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), Radhakrishnan said: "It was a historic moment for everyone in the country. It was a technological mission primarily, and we have achieved that. We give ourselves an 85 per cent mark for that achievement."
He mentioned several reasons for India's successful mix of engineering excellence and frugal spending behind the Mars mission.
The PSLV placed the MOM spacecraft into orbit around Earth, then the craft used its own thrusters to escape Earth's gravity and fly to Mars.
"We replaced a very powerful launch vehicle system through this novelty. In that process, we also checked out all autonomy that we had to put on the satellite," he said.
Radhakrishnan ruled out sending man into space in immediate future and said India's future space science missions include the Chandrayaan 2 moon lander and rover, an X-ray astronomy satellite, and a solar research probe planned to operate at the L1 Lagrange point a million miles from Earth.