India and France have planned eight-10 satellites as part of a constellation for maritime surveillance, French space agency CNES chief Jean-Yves Le Gall has said.
This will be India's largest space cooperation with any country, officials said.
They added that the launch of eight-10 maritime surveillance satellites will focus on the Indian Ocean, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese presence.
France will also share its expertise with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on inter-planetary missions to Mars and Venus, the Indian space agency's two major missions, Gall said.
"We started (talks) on constellation of new satellites for maritime awareness. Of course, it will take time," Gall told PTI in an interaction.
Asked how many satellites will be part of the project, he said, "It would be between eight-10."
Discussing collaboration for the mission to Venus and Mars and France's expertise on the matter, Mathieu Weiss, the managing director of CNES' India liaison office, explained,