International co-operation

ISRO has had international co-operation since inception. Some instances are listed below:

• Establishment of TERLS, conduct of SITE & STEP, launches of Aryabhata, Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS-IA and IRS-IB/ satellites, manned space mission, etc. involved international co-operation.
• ISRO operates LUT/MCC under the international COSPAS/SARSAT Programme for Search and Rescue.
• India has established a Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTE-AP) that is sponsored by the United Nations.
• India hosted the Second UN-ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific in November 1999.
• India is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Cospas-Sarsat, International Astronautical Federation, Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), International Space University, and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellite (CEOS).^[106]
• Chandrayaan-1 carried scientific payloads from NASA, ESA, Bulgarian Space Agency, and other institutions/companies in North America and Europe.
• The United States government on 24 January 2011, removed several Indian government agencies, including ISRO, from the so-called Entity List, in an effort to drive hi-tech trade and forge closer strategic ties with India.^[107]
• ISRO carries out joint operations with foreign space agencies, such as the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques Mission.^[106]
• At the International Astronautical Congress 2014 at Toronto, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan and NASA administrator Charles Bolden signed two documents. One was regarding the 2020 launch of a NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite mission to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes. The other was to establish a pathway for future joint missions to explore Mars.^[108]

Antrix Corporation, the commercial and marketing arm of ISRO, handles both domestic and foreign deals.^[109]
Formal co-operative arrangements in the form of memoranda of understanding or framework agreements have been signed with the following countries^[110]

• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Chile
• China
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Malaysia
• Mauritius
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Norway
• Peru
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Syria
• Thailand
• Netherlands
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Venezuela

The following foreign organisations also have signed various framework agreements with ISRO:-

• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
• EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites)
• European Space Agency

In the 39th Scientific Assembly of Committee on Space Research held in Mysore, the ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan called upon international synergy in space missions in view of their prohibitive cost. He also mentioned that ISRO is gearing up to meet the growing demand of service providers and security agencies in a cost effective manner.^[111]

Satellites launched by ISRO

As of June 2017, ISRO has launched 278 satellites, including 209 foreign ones using indigenously developed launch vehicles like SLV, ASLV, PSLV and GSLV.Though reliable, the PSLV can not launch satellites having mass greater than 1600 kg.^[112] ISRO has developed its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle for launching heavier satellites.^[113] ISRO also holds the world record for launching the most number of satellites, 104, in a single launch.^[10]

ISRO satellites launched by foreign agencies

5

10

15

20

25

30

Communication satellites

Earth observation satellites

Experimental satellites

Other

•   Ariane
•   Interkosmos
•   Vostok
•   Molniya
•   Delta
•   Space Shuttle

Several ISRO satellites have been launched by foreign space agencies (of Europe, USSR / Russia, and United States). The details (as of December 2016) are given in the table below.

Launch vehicle family	No. of ISRO satellites launched
	Communication satellites	Earth observation satellites	Experimental satellites	Other	Total
Europe
Ariane	20	0	1	0	21
USSR / Russia
Interkosmos	0	2	1	0	3
Vostok	0	2	0	0	2
Molniya	0	1	0	0	1
USA
Delta	2	0	0	0	2
Space Shuttle	1	0	0	0	1
Total	23	5	2	0	30

Those ISRO satellites that had a launch mass of 3000 kg or more, and were launched by foreign agencies, are listed in the table below.

No.	Satellite's name	Launch vehicle	Launch agency	Country / region of launch agency	Launch date	Launch mass	Power	Orbit type	Mission life	Other information	Reference(s)
1.	INSAT-4A	Ariane5-V169	Arianespace	Europe	22 December 2005	3081 kg with propellants (1386.55 kg dry mass)	5922 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	For communication.	[114]
2.	INSAT-4B	Ariane 5 ECA	Arianespace	Europe	12 March 2007	3025 kg with propellants	5859 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Exclusively for communication.	[115]
3.	GSAT-8	Ariane-5 VA-202	Arianespace	Europe	21 May 2011	3093 kg with propellants (1426 kg dry mass)	6242 W	Geosynchronous	More than 12 years	Advanced, high power, communication satellite.	[116]
4.	GSAT-10	Ariane-5 VA-209	Arianespace	Europe	29 September 2010	3400 kg with propellants (1498 kg dry mass)	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	For communication.	[117]
5.	GSAT-16	Ariane-5 VA-221	Arianespace	Europe	7 December 2014	3181.6 kg with propellants	6000 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Advanced communication satellite. Configured to carry 48 communication transponders, the most in any ISRO communication satellite so far.	[118]
6.	GSAT-15	Ariane-5 VA-227	Arianespace	Europe	11 November 2015	3164 kg with propellants	6000 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Advanced communication satellite. Configured to carry 24 communication transponders.	[119]
7.	GSAT-18	Ariane-5 VA-231	Arianespace	Europe	6 October 2016	3404 kg	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	Communication satellites to carry 48 transponders	[120]
8.	GSAT-17	Ariane-5 VA-238	Arianespace	Europe	28 June 2017	3477 kg	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	Communication satellites to carry 42 transponders	[121]