Isro to recover half the cost of record breaking PSLV-C37 launch from foreign customers

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will recover half of the total cost incurred for next week’s launch of 104 satellites from the foreign capsules mounted on its workhorse rocket PSLV-C37. Of the 104 satellites to be launched on 15 February, only three are Indian. “We want to make optimum use of our capacity. We are launching our three satellites. One is of 730 kgs while other two are 19 kgs each. We had additional space of 600 kgs. So we decided to accommodate 101 satellites,” Isro chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar said.

“Roughly half of our cost will be covered by the foreign satellites we are launching,” he said, without revealing the exact amount Isro will earn from foreign customers. The space agency has earned more than $100 millions by launching foreign satellites. It also has achieved mastery on launching smaller satellites. Isro will launch a record 104 satellites through its workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 on 15 February from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. These 101 satellites are nano-satellites and belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. The Indian satellites are from the Castrosat series.

Last year, Isro launched record 20 satellites at one go. The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) launched 29. Kumar said Isro is at present doing tests on its lander for Chandrayaan 2 at its facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and Challakere in Karnataka.

“It is an indigenous development and tests are on. It’s a control descend. So it has engines that allow a control descend,” Kumar said. Chandryaan 2 mission seeks to make a landing on the moon. Isro said that all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries, except Pakistan, have given their consent for the South Asian satellites project envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “India’s gift to its neighbours”. Kumar said that the manned mission project is “not a top priority” for the Isro, as he emphasised on enhancing space infrastructure.

PTI

This story is a part of a series on the world record launch of 104 satellites on a single mission by Isro. The stories in the series are: 

• Isro aims for a World record, to launch 83 satellites on a single rocket
• ISRO to launch world record 100 satellites in the PSLV-C37 mission scheduled for February
• Launching 103 satellites is not about setting a record, but to maximise capability, says ISRO chief
• Isro adds another passenger to the PSLV-C37 mission, 104 satellite launch rescheduled to mid February
• Isro plans to involve Indian industries to increase satellite launch capacity
• Isro’s mid-February PSLV-C37 launch of 104 satellites to have 88 satellites from Planet Labs
• Isro chief AS Kiran Kumar outlines the various uses of Indian satellites to students
• Isro’s PSLV-C37 launch scheduled for 15 February at 9:00 AM, here are the confirmed details
• Isro is going to break these previous satellite launch records with the PSLV-C37 mission
• Isro to recover half the cost of record breaking PSLV-C37 launch from foreign customers
• Isro PSLV-C37 record breaking mission run up: A history of rockets and launch vehicles in India
• Isro PSLV-C37 mission: The US private sector is threatened by cheap Indian spaceflight
• Isro has plans to go to Venus and visit Mars again in the future, along with 104 satellites launch on 15 Feb
• Isro’s record breaking PSLV-C37 mission: These are the 104 satellites on board