science

Updated: Jan 05, 2018 14:16 IST

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) earned Rs 288.75 crore by launching satellites for other countries in the last financial year, the department of space said in a reply to Parliament on Thursday.

Though this is less than what it earned between 2015-16 (Rs 420.9 cr), it is almost twice what it earned 2014-15.

India’s space agency launched satellites from Algeria, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States last year.

Till date, ISRO has launched over 200 foreign satellites, including 101 nanosatellites in its historic launch in February last year.

During the launch of Cartosat 2 in June last year, the launch vehicle also carried 29 nanosatellites from 14 foreign countries. Antrix, ISRO’s commercial arm that handles these dealings, earned Rs 46.65 cr from these launches.

The US has become ISRO’s biggest client even though its first payload was only in 2015. In the February launch last year, the US had the largest payload – 96 of the 101 foreign satellites and of which 88 were from one company, Planet.

The largest number of nanosatellites in the June 2017 launch were also from the US.

Over the years the space agency has become a favourite with foreign companies and governments seeking cost-effective launches.

It has become a trusted player to host commercial launches for other countries as well with a stellar record and at much lower cost than other space agencies.

The agency is aggressively pushing its commercial launch operations even as it ramps up its launch program aiming for 12 launches every year, from the present seven.

ISRO’s next launch is scheduled for January 12.