By Venkatachari Jagannathan

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Jul 11 (IANS): India has signed up contracts to launch 28 foreign satellites over the next three years, said a top official of Antrix Corporation here on Friday.

The Rs.1,850 crore revenue Antrix Corporation is the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"We will be launching 28 foreign satellites over the next three years. We will launch the satellites using PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket," said its chairman-cum-managing director V.S. Hegde.

According to him, the 28 foreign satellites will be a mix of nano, micro and normal satellites.

"The foreign satellites would go up as a co-passenger of ISRO satellite or as a stand alone in a single rocket," Hegde said.

According to ISRO chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar, the Indian space agency till date has launched 45 foreign satellites, and the commercial launches depends on the spare capacity available after meeting the national needs.

He said the next launch will be the GSAT6 communication satellite using heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) next month.

Queried about the launch of navigation satellites, Kumar said ISRO would launch three more navigation satellites by 2016.

The fifth navigation satellite in the seven series satellites will be launched later this year, he said.