'India, a cost-effective hub for satellite launch'

Seeking to position India as a cost-effective destination for satellite-building and commercial launch services, Indian Space Research Organisation has forged partnerships with France-based 'EADS Astrium' and European space consortium 'Arianespace'.

ISRO has inked a pact with EADS Astrium to jointly address the commercial market for communication satellites in the mass range of two-three tonnes, envisaging optimising Bangalore-based space agency's Insat platform along with communication payloads of the Europe's leading satellite system specialist.

ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said that Arianespace has also agreed in principle to pass on to the Indian space agency 2-2.5 tonne class satellites for launch from the Indian soil. According to top ISRO officials, costs of building satellites and launch services are lower by 20-30 per cent in India.

On the agreement with EADS Astrium, Nair said: "Cooperation is fructifying. We already had a series of discussions with them. We have already identified what are the sub-systems that can be done here. How the integration can be done. How the instruments can be brought here from them."

"We (ISRO and EADS Astrium) are trying to make some joint bids," he said. "If that fructifies, we may get one or two launches of the two-three tonne class built here for EADS."