US company in talks with India to launch communication satellite

An American company is holding discussions with Antrix Corporation to put into orbit its communication satellite, using India's heavy rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the government said on Wednesday.

A leading space company from the US is under initial phase of discussion with Antrix, to utilise the GSLV launch services for one of their communication satellite, it said.

Union Minister of state (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), PMO and Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh disclosed this in response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha.

Antrix is the commercial arm of the Indian space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

According to Singh, the other entities that have shown interest in utilising GSLV launch services include space agencies/companies from Canada, France, Republic of Korea and Turkey.

India has two rockets to launch satellites - GSLV-Mark II and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The GSLV has a total carrying capacity of around 2.5 tonnes while PSLV's capacity is around 1.8 tonnes.

India is also developing another GSLV variant with a total carrying capacity of around 4 tonnes.