NEW DELHI: 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 February 15, 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 USD 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 February 15 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. (AGENCIES)