First Saarc satellite to be launched by 2016: Isro chief

Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar on Monday said the Indian space agency is planning to launch the first Saarc satellite by the end of next year.

Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar on Monday said the Indian space agency is planning to launch the first Saarc satellite by the end of next year.

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Kumar said that there was a one-day meeting with Saarc nations on June 22 in which five representatives from each participating country, including Pakistan, took part.

"By December next year, we are expecting to launch this (Saarc) satellite," Kiran Kumar told reporters at Akkulam near Thiruvananthapuram.

Spectrum finalisation for the satellite is being worked out, he said.

Proposing satellite diplomacy with a view to playing a key role in the development of the region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year had asked ISRO to develop a Saarc satellite which can be dedicated as a 'gift' to the neighbours.

Modi had asked the scientists to work on a satellite that would provide full range of applications and services to all of India's neighbours.