New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reiterated the need to explore opportunities in the application of satellites and building space infrastructure in Latin America.

ISRO so far has memoranda of understanding and mutual cooperation agreements with 61 countries, the Financial Express newspaper reported.

The Indian space agency is interested in establishing ground stations in the South American region to download remote sensing data, ISRO Chairman Sreedhara Panicker Somanath was quoted as saying.

Connecting with Latin American countries is of importance to ISRO, considering the growing interest in space activities there, especially the formation of the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency, he asserted.

“We would like to showcase ISRO’s capabilities in remote sensing, government data utilization and resource mapping, and connect with Indian industries in the space sector,” Somanath said.

According to the official, space cooperation agreements are already in place with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and further engagements with Panama and the Dominican Republic are in the pipeline.