The US is reportedly looking to partner with India on future deep-space exploration missions.

Last week, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) announced plans to launch a mission to explore Venus and an asteroid.

The decision to explore these space bodies came after the agency placed its unmanned Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft into Mars’ orbit last year.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma was quoted by Press Trust of India: "We look forward to path-breaking work between Nasa and Isro on deep-space exploration to Mars and beyond."

"Venus is our neighbour and has many scientific challenges and aspects that need to be studied."

Venus is said to be a twin of Earth due to its similar size, and has a hugely dense atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide, and an average temperature of around 460°C.

So far, the planet has been accessed by Russia and America, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA).

Isro chairman Dr Kiran Kumar said that these future planetary missions will require bigger rockets such as the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II (GSLV Mk-II).

Kumar was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying: "A project has to be formulated for this before we chart out a proper roadmap for the explorations.

"Venus is our neighbour and has many scientific challenges and aspects that need to be studied. Exploring an asteroid is also challenging task."

Isro is currently preparing to launch the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2018, which will include an orbiter, a lander and a rover on the lunar surface.

The agency will also undertake lunar sample return missions from the moon, and explore the possibility of a lunar observatory project.

Isro plans to develop and deploy a follow-up mission to Mars, named Mangalyaan 2, between 2018 and 2020.