Antrix Corporation, the commercial wing of India’s Department of Space, and the French-based European commercial launch services company, Arianespace, have signed an agreement to jointly market the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Arianespace’s Ariane 5 to launch auxiliary payloads in the weight class of up to 100 kg.
Under this cooperative agreement, signed on April 3, 1998 at Antariksh Bhavan, the headquarters of Department of Space and Antrix, a Committee for Auxiliary Payload Policy Execution (CAPE) was formed by Arianespace and Antrix with the objective of encouraging and enlarging the launch opportunities for small satellites.
Both companies will establish a common User’s Manual for Auxiliary Payloads that will be compatible with both PSLV and Ariane 5. This will facilitate the ability of users to launch their small satellites either with the ASAP (Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads) system on Ariane 5 or the Specific Auxiliary Payload Structure developed for the PSLV.
The agreement is an important step towards cooperation between Arianespace — which is in the forefront of the international launch services market, and ISRO — whose PSLV entered its operational phase with the successful launch of IRS-1D in September, 1997.
The joint marketing of the two organizations’ launch services is expected to cater to a large number of customers throughout the world wanting to launch their small satellites.
India at SpaceDaily
