Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed PSLV C-23 launch at Sriharikota today.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi made a pitch for India to be the world's low-cost space technology supplier, minutes after witnessing the launch of a rocket carrying five satellites from France, Singapore, Germany and Canada on Monday.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle's mission bolstered India's goal of capturing a large slice of the global satellite launch industry, estimated to be worth around $55 billion over the next decade.
So far, India has launched 40 satellites for 19 countries, many of them advanced nations. "India has the potential to be the launch service provider of the world. We must work towards this goal," the PM said from the launch site at Sriharikota off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. (
Watch PM Modi's full speech here)
"Even today our program stands out as the most cost effective in the world," he said. "Our scientists have shown the world a new paradigm of frugal engineering and the power of imagination." (
Read Highlights of PM's Speech)
India sent its first spacecraft to Mars last November, which set it on course to be the first Asian mission to reach the red planet. If successful, it will join a small club of space agencies to have explored Mars.
That mission's cheap price tag of Rs 450 crore ($75 million) prompted the PMi on Monday to remark that it cost less than the budget of the Hollywood science fiction film Gravity. (
'Our Mars Mission Cheaper Than The Movie Gravity': PM Modi After PSLV C-23 Launch)
Referencing a 1999 Kargil war hero's famous slogan, the PM said, "We have done a lot but
yeh dil maange more (the heart wants more)." (
At PSLV Launch, PM Narendra Modi says 'We've Done a Lot But Yeh Dil Maange More')
The PM also offered space cooperation for countries of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) . He pledged to develop a SAARC satellite dedicated "to our neighbourhood as a gift from India".
India launched its space programme five decades ago and developed its own rocket technology after Western powers levied sanctions for a 1974 nuclear weapons test. Five years ago, its Chandrayaan satellite found evidence of water on the moon.