The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on the sidelines of the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, announced the renewal of a five-year contract with European space firm EADS Astrium to build commercial satellites to be launched from French space facilities. The ISRO chairman announced a May 2011 launch date for the Indo French joint satellite programme called Megha Tropiques, intended to study tropical atmosphere in a larger exercise to understand the effects of climate change. ISRO also announced a December 2011 launch date for a second Indo French satellite programme SARAL intended to study oceans. Read More