Over the past decade, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is reported to have made $439 million from launching the satellites of other countries. Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, mentioned this projection on March 12, while answering questions in the Lok Sabha on a written basis. From January 2015 to December 2024, Indian Space Agency onboarded 393 foreign customer satellites and 3 Indian customer satellites on a commercial basis via its PSLV, LVM3, and SSLV launch vehicles, he added.
Moreover, the figure of nearly $143 million and 272 million euros in foreign exchange revenue that was earned from the launches during the period previously mentioned is close to $296 million when converted to the current exchange rate. India has launched satellites for 34 nations since 2014. The country that contributes the most number of launches is the USA, who has had 232 launched. Other countries include the United Kingdom (83), Singapore (19), Canada (8), Korea (5), Luxembourg (4), Italy (4), Germany (3), Belgium (3), Finland (3), France (3), Switzerland (2), Netherlands (2), Japan (2), Israel (2), Spain (2) and Australia, UAE and Austria all at (1 each).
Other collaborations ISRO has with agencies from 61 nations and 5 multilateral regions. The primary areas of collaboration involve remote sensing satellites, navigation satellites, satellite communications, space science, planetary exploration and capacity building, The Minister highlighted.
Significantly, ISRO has partnered with NASA on a joint satellite mission, “NISAR” (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), which is in the advanced stages of development. ISRO is also collaborating with the French National Space Agency (CNES) on the “TRISHNA” mission, a thermal infrared imaging satellite for natural resource assessment, which is still in its initial stages. Additionally, a feasibility study has been conducted with Japan’s JAXA for a joint lunar polar exploration mission.
The minister further announced that the government has increased the funding for India’s human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, to Rs 20,193 crore. This additional funding aims to curb the revised scope of the program, which now includes the development of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, precursor missions, and other requirements. The Gaganyaan mission now plans to carry out two crewed space flights by 2028, along with eight missions in total—two crewed and six uncrewed—up from the previous plan of one crewed and two uncrewed missions.
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