First commercial space launch was PSLV-C8

New Delhi, May 17: The Government today admitted in the Rajya Sabha that India made its first commercial space launch recently when its PSLV-C8 carried an Italian Satellite successfully and placed it in orbit 550 km above the Earth from Sriharikota.

In a written reply, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan said the total value of the launching contract was 7.38 million Euros. The commercial contract was made between Antrix Corporation, which is the commercial arm of Department of Space and a European company for launching the Italian satellite, AGILE.

This satellite is equipped with scientific instruments capable of imaging distant celestial objects in x-ray and gamma ray regions of electromagnetic spectrum.

He further informed that the successful launch has demonstrated the versatility and reliability of PSLV launches for different orbits and boosts the confidence of International customers for commercial launches on ISRO's launch vehicles in the market competed by USA, Russia, China, Ukraine and other European launch service providers.

On the question of assistance for space technology, Mr Chavan said that as part of National Resources Management System (NNRMS) under the aegis of the Planning Commission for which the Department of Space, a nodal agency, close coordinated activities pertaining to space technology applications are taken up jointly with the Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geop-Informatics (BISAG), Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar.

Further, the officials from the Gujarat Government periodically make use of the training and education facilities available at Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad, and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun towards acquiring proficiency in the field of remote sensing, geo-informatics and GPS Technology for natural resources and disaster management, Mr Chavan said.

UNI