India to launch European satellite

Thursday, 08 July 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India's department of space has signed a contract with a German firm for the commercial launch of a European scientific satellite on an Indian rocket. Prithviraj Chauhan, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, Wednesday said Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the department of space, had signed the contract with Cosmos International Satellitenstart for launching the Agile satellite next year. The Agile, a 320-kg satellite, is to be placed in a nominal 550-km near- equatorial orbit during May 2005 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Chauhan said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. "The launch service, when successfully carried out, will be a major international launch for PSLV at an internationally competitive price," he said.
Source: IANS
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