ISRO to carry out fully-commercial launch of foreign satellites on 16 September

ISRO is all set for its first ever commercial launch on Sunday, 16 September, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre launchpad at Sriharikota. Two British satellites — Novasar and S1-4 — will be the main payload aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C42 rocket. Once in orbit, the satellites will add to Britain’s Earth observation capabilities, The Times of India reported. “It will be a full-fledged commercial launch,” ISRO Chairman K Sivan said. “However, this will not be the first time ISRO is going for a full commercial launch.” [caption id=“attachment_4299757” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Representational image. Image courtesy: ISRO[/caption] After a long and quiet eight months, this launch mark ISRO’s 239th foreign satellite launch. It has carried out satellite launches for 28 different countries so far. **ISRO** is keen to compete and capture the lion’s share of global launch market, the report says, eyeing a bigger chunk of the global satellite launch market. The space agency’s foreign commercial launches are mediated by Antrix, its commercial arm. The next launch will be a GSAT-7A satellite, due to launch in November. It is designated for use by the Indian Air Force and will help bridge the gap between their base-to-ground radar communication, according to a One India report.