Starting A Countdown

The US government has given the go-ahead to Boeing to tie up with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to explore the possibility of manufacturing communication satellites for the international market. This was announced by undersecretary of commerce Kenneth I. Juster in Bangalore last week. The satellites to be developed are of the two-tonne variety and currently cost about $ 50 million in the international market. Market studies had indicated that with an international tie-up, ISRO could be very competitive in the global market. Hence the importance of Boeing’s interest. Says an ISRO official: "Such a tie-up will also ensure that isro is able to generate its own financial resources to fund research programmes."