Indian capsule returns from orbit

India’s space agency said an orbiting capsule had returned to Earth, a major step toward the development of a manned space program.

The capsule was launched Jan. 10, 60 miles north of the city of Chennai. It splashed down in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday, and the space agency reported the arrival Monday.

Though India has for years been building communication and remote-sensing satellites, this was its first foray into deploying reusable spacecraft, which puts the country in an elite club led by the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and France. India hopes to put an astronaut in space by 2014.