The number of foreign satellites launched by ISRO over the previous five years

New Delhi: Responding to questions posed at the Rajya Sabha, Space Minister Jitendra Singh has revealed that 163 foreign customer satellites by launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through its commercial arm, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), between 2019 and 2023, that is over the previous five years. The total foreign exchange revenue generated by deploying these 163 satellites through ISRO’s launch vehicles are approximately 153 million USD and 113 million Euros.

Jitendra Singh also revealed that in June 202, the Space Sector reforms aimed to unlock India’s potential in the space sector, to propel India to the forefront of global commercial space activities, would allow NSIL to undertake more commercial launches using ISRO rockets. NSIL is also looking to source more rockets from private industry partners as it cannot possibly meet the burgeoning demand for satellite launches using rockets produced in-house.

ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Fleet

ISRO’s launch vehicle fleet is made up of its workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which is the primary option for packing in additional co-passenger payloads to satellites that are being launched by ISRO. There are also dedicated, on-demand commercial flights of the PSLV. ISRO also uses its launch vehicle mark 3 (LVM-3) for deploying commercial satellites, including two batches of 36 OneWeb satellites each, that ISRO stepped up to launch when the conflict in Ukraine prevented access to the Roscosmos Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

ISRO has also developed the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), designed to provide affordable, on-demand access to space, catering specifically to the nanosatellite and microsatellite market. ISRO also has the GSLV, known as the ‘naughty boy’ because of an unreliable launch history, which has improved its reputation with the successful GSLV-F14 launch. The GSLV will also be used to launch the NISAR satellite that was supposed to be launched last year, but has been shipped back to NASA for a precautionary thermal coating. There are no indications of future commercial launches with the GSLV.

Just a few days ago, Space Minister Jitendra Singh also responded to a similar question posed in the Lok Sabha, revealing that since 2014, ISRO has launched a total of 397 foreign satellites, generating a total foreign exchange revenue of 157 million USD and 261 million Euros.

Agencies