Italian and Algerian Earth observation satellites are to be launched by India following a deal secured by the Indian Space Research Organisation's commercial space arm, Bangalore-based Antrix.
To be launched next year aboard ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Italian space agency's spacecraft is the country's second Indian launch, the first being the astronomy research mission Agile, orbited on 23 April 2007.
The Algerian space agency's Alsat-2A remote sensing satellite is the first African order for India and the agency has an option for a second PSLV launch. Antrix is exploring other African markets including Nigeria and South Africa.
Other contract wins for Antrix include PSLV launches for micro satellites from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and the Netherlands.
India's space industry is to be the subject of a European Space Agency telecommunications market study. Former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan says: "In terms of cost competitiveness, quality, reliability and credibility of the systems, ISRO's benchmark is on par with international standards."