SRIHARIKOTA: After the continuous success of various missions, Isro is planning to venture into manufacturing of foreign satellites with the industrial support.
“Discussions are on with the foreign nations. But, first, we have to make sure whatever the primary demand in our country is met,” Isro chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told reporters here after the successful launch of the PSLV-C35 rocket.
“We believe that through the industrial support we can also cater to the demands of other countries in already established technologies. For example, our Insat -3D and 3DR are best meteorological satellites available equivalent to only with the US GOES series satellites,” he said.
He also said that Isro has to make sure that it has the capacity to deliver. “Currently, we are looking at international companies for building KUK satellites.
There are opportunities and to convert them into realities depends on upon so many factors,” he said.
On upcoming launches he said, Isro will launch GSAT-18 from French Guyana on October 4. The next PSLV rocket will launch Resourcesat-2A in November. GSLV Mark-III rocket will be launched at the end of the year.
P.Kunhi Krishnan, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre said, “The integration activities of GSLV Mark-III have commenced at Sriharikota. The development vehicle will be launched from the second launch pad.”
Antrix, the commercial arm of Isro has a turnover of Rs 1,790 crore in the current year compared with Rs 1,770 crore in the previous year. “Antrix is growing with the success of Isro. Now we also have the orders for Rs 280 crore for next 2 to 3 years,” said S. Rakesh, chairman and managing director, Antrix.
