Italy and India have agreed to expand their space links by identifying areas for future co-operation such as earth observation systems, small satellites, networking ground stations and space-based experimentation, according to Italian Space Agency (ASI) president Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami.
Bignami says he is pleased with the performance of the Italian astronomy research satellite Agile, which was launched by India's four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in April, and adds that an Italian-built atmospheric research payload, ROSA (radio occultation sounder), will form a part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite mission, which is to be launched by PSLV sometime in 2008.
Bignami also says ASI has given ISRO data from the first of the its four Cosmo-SkyMed satellites, launched in June, and that ASI will consider PSLV for launching at least two of the three remaining Cosmo-Skymed satellites.
ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, meanwhile, expresses regret that political pressure is disrupting India's efforts to work co-operatively in space. Specifically, he criticised the USA for pressuring Russia to drop its commitment to ISRO to transfer cryogenic engine technology critical to an Indian three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle programme.
Source: Flight International