New Delhi [India], March 14 (ANI): India generated foreign exchange revenue worth USD 143 million through launching foreign satellites during the period from 2015 to 2024, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh, who looks after the space sector, informed Lok Sabha.

During the last ten years starting from January 2015 to December 2024, a total of 393 foreign satellites and three Indian customer satellites have been launched on a commercial basis on board ISRO's PSLV, LVM3 and SSLV launch vehicles, the ministry apprised the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

India has launched satellites of 34 countries so far, including those of developed countries, since 2014:

Of the total 393 foreign satellites that were launched, 232 were for the US, 83 for the UK, Singapore (19), Canada (8), Korea (5) Luxemburg (4), Italy (4), Germany (3), Belgium (3), Finland (3), France (3), Switzerland (2) Netherland (2), Japan (2), Israel (2), Spain (2), Australia (1), United Arab Emirates (1), and Austria (1).

Currently, space cooperative documents have been signed with 61 countries and five multilateral bodies. The major areas of cooperation are satellite remote sensing, satellite navigation, satellite communication, space science and planetary exploration and capacity building, the minister said in a separate reply to the Lok Sabha.

India is a big space power now, with back-to-back successful missions.

In 2023, in a stellar display of prowess, India soared to new heights with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and with the success of Aditya-L1, India's first solar mission.

India is now preparing for its ambitious Gaganyaan mission, envisaging a demonstration of human space capabilities by launching a crew of astronauts into an orbit and then bringing back these human astronauts safely to earth by landing them in India's sea waters.

The manned mission Gaganyaan is scheduled for launch this year. The four astronauts who will be part of India's first human space flight program, Gaganyaan, were trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, the same centre where Rakesh Sharma underwent training. Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space in 1984.

These milestones not only secured India's standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India. Among other feats, India now aims to set up 'Bharatiya Antariksha Station' by 2035 and send the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

Indian space startups have become a strong pillar for the private space industry in the last decade, especially after the landmark move to open the Indian space sector to private companies in 2020. (ANI)