Indian space agency launches satellite jointly developed with Bhutan

NEW DELHI

India on Saturday successfully launched a satellite jointly developed with Bhutan, the Indian External Affairs Ministry said.

The satellite will provide high-resolution images to Bhutan for their natural resources management, the ministry said in a statement.

The Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C54 “carried the India-Bhutan SAT, along with India's Earth Observation Satellite -06 and other satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota,” the statement said.

After the launch, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: “India has achieved a historic milestone in its bilateral cooperation with Bhutan as two special friends and neighbors.”

“India has assisted in capacity building of Bhutanese engineers through hands on training at the UR Rao Satellite Centre, in Bengaluru, on satellite building and testing, as well as on processing and analysing satellite data. This culminated into the joint development of the customized satellite for Bhutan, launched today,” the ministry said.

A high-level delegation from Bhutan led by Information and Communications Minister Lyonpo Karma Donnen Wangdi traveled to Sriharikota to witness the launch of the satellite.

An 18-member media delegation from Bhutan who is on a week-long “familiarisation visit” to India was also at Sriharikota to witness the launch, according to the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bhutan in August 2019, the two sides had jointly inaugurated the ground earth station of the South Asia Satellite in Thimphu, constructed with the support of the Indian space agency.