India earns $143 million from launching foreign satellites, strengthens global space presence
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India's space sector continues to grow as the country has generated $143 million in foreign revenue by launching satellites for other nations between 2015 and 2024.
This data was revealed by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who oversees the space sector, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
According to the ministry, India has successfully launched 393 foreign satellites and three Indian customer satellites on a commercial basis during this period. These missions were carried out using ISRO's trusted launch vehicles—PSLV, LVM3, and SSLV.
Since 2014, India has provided satellite launch services to 34 countries, including several developed nations.
A breakdown of the foreign satellites launched shows that the majority - 232 - belonged to the United States, followed by 83 from the United Kingdom. Other notable countries that have relied on India's space launch services include Singapore (19), Canada (8), South Korea (5), Luxembourg (4), Italy (4), Germany (3), Belgium (3), Finland (3), France (3), Switzerland (2), the Netherlands (2), Japan (2), Israel (2), Spain (2), Australia (1), the UAE (1), and Austria (1).
India has signed space cooperation agreements with 61 countries and five multilateral organisations, covering areas such as satellite remote sensing, satellite communication, navigation, space science, planetary exploration, and capacity building.
India has firmly established itself as a major space power with a series of successful missions. In 2023, the country made history by landing Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s south pole and launching Aditya-L1, India's first solar observation mission.
Looking ahead, India is preparing for its ambitious Gaganyaan mission, which will demonstrate the country’s human spaceflight capabilities. This mission, set to launch in 2025, will send a crew of astronauts into orbit and safely return them to Earth. The selected astronauts have undergone training at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the same facility where Rakesh Sharma - the first Indian in space - was trained in 1984.
With its growing expertise, India is setting even higher goals. The country aims to establish the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and send the first Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.
The rise of private space startups has further boosted India's space industry, particularly after the government opened the sector to private participation in 2020. This move has led to increased innovation, investment, and expansion in commercial space activities.