Indian, Australian firms sign space launch agreement

A Launch Service Agreement was signed between India's NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Australia's Space Machine Company to further deepen space collaboration between the two nations.

The agreement was signed at an event in the national capital on Wednesday. It was attended by ISRO chief S Somanath and the Australian High Commissioner to India, Philip Green.

Addressing the event, the ISRO chief said, "We have heard that the vision for the next 25 years, Amrit Kaal, has already been announced. That was only just two months back. So what we have been doing is converting that vision into actionable items."

He elaborated on several missions that ISRO is working on, including further exploration of the the moon.

"We will, by 2028...have the first launch of the station. So to make that happen by 2028, we have engineered the BAS first module, and that will go on LVM3. So for that, there is another proposal: how to build it, what are the technologies required, what timeline we will build and what everything costs. That has been put in a separate proposal, which will be put before the government again for approval," S Somanath said.

"The third element is the Chandrayaan series of missions, which requires... further exploration of the Moon until we land on Moon. So we have worked out a configuration with Chandrayaan-4, how to bring samples back from Moon to Earth. And that we propose with multiple launches because our current rocket capability is not enough to go on one mission and then bring back samples," he added.

The Australian envoy addressed the event and said that Canberra is very proud of the engagement between the two nations in the space industry.

"Just on behalf of the Australian government, I want to say how proud we are to see this important first emblem of the engagement between Australia in the space industry. We are...big backers of the Indian space industry and that's why we've developed a special mechanism to support Australia and India space collaboration an ideal first outcome is to have an Australian payload on outstanding work advice-based machines and by their energy and collaborators, I wish them the very best," he said.

Taking to social media platform X, he said that Australia will fund specific partnerships to the tune of Rs 100 crore over the next three years.

He also hailed the signing of the Launch Service Agreement between India's NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Australia's Space Machine Company.

"Terrific to witness the signing of a historic Launch Service Agreement b/w Autralia @SpaceMachinesCo & India @NSIL_India. This Space MAIT-RI Mission will mark a defining moment in our space collaboration- the first time an firm has commissioned an -made SSLV- launch to begin in 2026," envoy Green stated.

(ANI)