First in 50 years: Isro opens its satellite centre to private firms

BENGALURU: For the first time in over five decades of India’s space programme, Isro opened up its facilities to the private sector with two satellites from companies and one from academia being tested in the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) here.

Over the next few months, two private firms will test their engines at Sriharikota spaceport and Thiruvananthapuram rocket centre. Isro will soon give its satellite images to a private firm that offers mapping services.

Sources in URSC said satellites from Tamil Nadu-based Space Kidz India and Bengaluru-based Syzygy Space Technologies have undergone testing.