ISRO and Australian Space Agency discuss working together

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) reviewed space cooperation and discussed potential areas of working together in a virtual meeting.

ISRO has been interested in establishing a ground station in Australia to support the Gaganyaan mission. Secretary in the Department of Space (DoS) and ISRO Chairman S Somanath and ASA Head Enrico Palermo said both agencies are happy about the progress of the ongoing discussion.

The Indian agency said in an official statement that the leader discussed other potential areas of collaboration including Australia's International Space Investment initiative. Australia is also interested in using ISRO ground stations for satellite data reception, range and integrity monitoring of NavIC satellites, and organising a joint workshop to promote interaction between both agencies.

The statement also revealed the Dominican Republic's interest in working with ISRO. David Puig, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to India, spoke to ISRO Chairman on Tuesday to express interest in learning from the space agency.

Puig said his country wants to learn from "India's vast experience in harnessing the benefits of space technology for national development through access to satellite data, training and capacity building in space technology applications". ISRO has assured support for the Caribbean country through training programmes and joint activities like small satellites and remote sensing applications.

Earlier this week, ISRO scientist Kurmanth said that India will continue to be in the top place in space technology and research. He mentioned that GSLV rockets would prove India's potential and new rockets would be able to carry humans for research in space.