Australia inks $18 mn pact with ISRO’s commercial arm

New Delhi, June 26

India is a top-tier strategic partner and Australia is now eager to be part of the fast-developing South Asian nation’s space journey, Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green OAM said on Wednesday.

Space Machines, an Australian firm, entered into a $18 million pact with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This partnership will involve deploying a satellite inspection and observation payload aboard ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in 2026. Rajat Kulshrestha, co-founder of Space Machines, said this would be the largest satellite launched by Australia to date.

“We now describe India as a top-tier strategic partner, along with the US, the UK, and Japan. For us, India is now in that very elite group. We have a specific partnership with India, to which we are devoting $18 million to support collaborations between Australian and Indian space firms,” Green said.