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The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch 28 commercial satellites along with CartoSat-2 satellite in the second half of December.
Addressing reporters to announce ‘International Seminar on Indian Space Programme: Trends and Opportunities for Industry’, supported by Ficci and ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation, ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said that out of the 28 commercial satellites, 25 are nano and three are micro.
ISRO has been improving its launches, he said. “Now we are doing 8-10 launches a year; our aim is 18 per year,” Kumar said, and added “It is here we need private participation.”
S Rakesh, Chairman and Managing Director, Antrix Corporation, said: “The corporation so far has ₹850 crore firm orders in its book. Another ₹250-300 crore are work in progress.
“Antrix in total has orders to launch 200 satellites belonging to 29 countries.”
Kumar said: “ISRO is not lagging behind in supporting or nurturing start-ups. A small company, Bellatrix Aerospace, started by young people, have successfully got a contract to develop micro-thermal thrusters. “After our experience in working with this start-up, ISRO is planning to set up an incubation centre to handhold and encourage start-ups, to grow and capture a share of the global space market.”
Vivek Pandit, Assistant Secretary General, Ficci, said: “The objective of the two-day (November 20-21) conference in New Delhi is to deliberate on the best practices, pursue the ongoing discussion process to support further work of the Indian space sector and facilitate private participation.” He said that during the seminar, stakeholders, policy makers, thought leaders and academia will also brainstorm on enabling and encouraging government policies to target both domestic and global markets.
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