Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced to launch as many as four foreign satellites in 2009. Only a couple of weeks ago, ISRO-build W2M communication satellite was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana. The communication satellite was developed by ISRO in association with EADS-Astrium of Europe.

 

Earlier in October 2008, the space research agency of India achieved a major success by launching country's first unmanned mission on Moon. Informing about the proposed foreign satellites, MD of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, K R Sridhara Murthy said that the space agency has bagged the contracts of developing satellites for Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. According to Murthy, the spacecrafts will be a mix of nano and small satellites.

 

ISRO could not provide any financial details of the proposed satellites due to certain contractual obligations. However, Murthy informed that ISRO will charge around Euro 20,000 per kg of satellite which is considerably cheaper than the existing international prices. Murthy said that the launch price is guided by competition, market conditions and demand-supply scenario.

 

Headquartered in Bangalore, ISRO has played a very vital role in placing India in the emerging field of space research. With ISRO's help, India plans to launch its second moon mission, Chandrayaan-II by 2012. Chandrayaan II project will land a small robot on the moon's surface which will collect and analyse samples. With the passage of time, the premier organisation seems to bring home new glories for India.