India to launch six more satellites in 2015-16

New Delhi: India will launch six more satellites -- two communication satellites, three navigation satellites and a space science satellite -- during 2015-16, parliament was informed on Thursday.

"Six more satellites are planned to be launched during 2015-16. These are two communication satellites GSAT-6 and GSAT-15, three navigation satellites IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F and IRNSS-1G, and one space science satellite ASTROSAT," Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

In addition, India also plans to launch 13 more satellites belonging to four countries using the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

As of April 2015, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 74 satellites.

Of these, seven failed to reach orbit due to launch failure while three failed in orbit, the minister said.

In addition, using the PSLV rocket, the ISRO has successfully launched 40 foreign satellites belonging to 19 countries and four micro and nano satellites built by students of Indian universities, he said.