(Bloomberg) -- An Indian rocket launched two European satellites, boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to find allies for the nation’s drive to become a space power.
The PSLV-XL rocket took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre near the southern city of Chennai at 4:04 p.m. and placed two European Space Agency satellites in orbit 19 minutes later, the Indian space agency ISRO said.
The launch was the first by ISRO for its European counterpart in about two decades.
India’s space program dates to the 1970s when it received support from the Soviet Union. ISRO has continued working with its Russian counterpart even as others have suspended ties because of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, New Delhi has also been forming space partnerships with the US, Japan and Europe.
“India doesn’t want to give the impression that its space partnership is limited to Russia alone,” said Chaitanya Giri, fellow at Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank.
ISRO launched a satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 last month, the first time the agency used one of Elon Musk’s rockets. A joint NASA-ISRO satellite to measure the movements of land and ice-covered surfaces on Earth is scheduled to launch early next year from India.
The project, the first of its kind between the two agencies, “is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO,” according to a NASA statement.
ISRO in August announced an agreement with Houston-based Axiom Space Inc. for an Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station.
Last year, India signed the Artemis Accords, a US-backed initiative to establish rules on the moon and elsewhere in space.
About 50 nations have signed, but Russia is not a signatory.
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath visited ESA headquarters in March and met with his counterpart Director General Josef Aschbacher.
“What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing,” Aschbacher wrote in a post on X. “The strategic importance of strengthening ties and deepening cooperation with international partners cannot be underestimated.”
Russia isn’t giving up without a fight. The Kremlin is providing spacesuits and other equipment for Gaganyaan, India’s project to send people to space for the first time, and Gaganyaan astronauts have received training in Russia.
During a visit to India last month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov spoke of opportunities to expand support for India’s human spaceflight program.
Being courted by many would-be partners suits Modi’s strategy of maintaining ties with Moscow even as India deepens its security partnership with the US, said Giri, of the Observer Research Foundation.
India “has channels of communication and partnerships with several countries which gives it flexibility,” he said. “In many ways India’s space program is similar to its diplomacy, where it is carefully balancing relations with the US and Russia at the same time.”
--With assistance from Eltaf Najafizada.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
