Indian Space Research Organisation - Global Cooperation

Global Cooperation

ISRO has had the benefit of International cooperation since inception.

• Establishment of TERLS, conduct of SITE & STEP, launches of Aryabhata, Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS-IA and IRS-IB/ satellites, manned space mission, etc. involved international cooperation.
• ISRO operates LUT/MCC under the international COSPAS/SARSAT Programme for Search and Rescue.
• India has established a Center for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTE-AP) that is sponsored by the United Nations.
• India hosted the Second UN-ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific in November 1999.
• India is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Cospas-Sarsat, International Astronautical Federation, Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), International Space University, and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellite (CEOS).
• Chandrayaan-1 carried scientific payloads from NASA, ESA and the Bulgarian Space Agency.
• The Russian Space Agency is cooperating with India in developing the rover for Chandrayaan-2 and also in the Indian manned mission.
• The United States on 24 January 2011, removed several Indian government defense-related companies, including ISRO, from the so-called Entity List, in an effort to drive hi-tech trade and forge closer strategic ties with India.

ISRO and the Department of Space have signed formal Memorandum of Understanding agreements with a number of foreign political entities, including:-

India carries out joint operations with foreign space agencies, such as the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques Mission. On 25 June 2002 India and the European Union agreed to bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. A joint EU-India group of scholars was formed on 23 November 2001 to further promote joint research and development. India holds observer status at CERN while a joint India-EU Software Education and Development Center is due at Bangalore. In the 39th Scientific Assembly of Committee on Space Research held in Mysore, the Chairman of ISRO called upon international synergy in space missions in view of their prohibitive cost. He also disclosed that his organisation is grearing up to meet the growing demand of service providers, security agencies, etc. in a cost effective manner.