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Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh held a virtual bilateral meeting with France's Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space, Prof Philippe Baptiste, agreeing to deepen cooperation in human spaceflight, advanced space technologies and industry engagement.
The talks preceded the International Space Summit in Paris on 9-10 September 2026 and the Bengaluru Space Expo on 7-9 September 2026.
The Chairman of ISRO, who is also Secretary, Department of Space, has been invited to deliver the opening keynote at Paris on India's future human spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit.
India welcomed proposed Summit deliverables on sustainable use of outer space, openness of space-based scientific data and support for the International Telecommunication Union's frequency-management framework.
Prof Baptiste will visit India from 28 to 30 September 2026, including ISRO facilities in Bengaluru.
India's space agency under the Department of Space; its Chairman is also Secretary, Department of Space.
France's national space agency and ISRO's longest-standing international partner, jointly running Earth observation and climate missions.
The UN specialised agency whose regulatory framework governs radio frequency and satellite orbit allocation; the Summit deliverables include support for it.
Study the water cycle and energy exchanges of the tropical atmosphere.
Key: Joint ISRO-CNES satellite launched in 2011, an equal-partner mission on tropical convection and climate.
Ocean altimetry, sea-surface height and marine data collection.
Key: Joint ISRO-CNES mission launched in 2013; carries the Ka-band AltiKa altimeter and the Argos data-collection system.
High-resolution thermal infrared observation for water management, crop stress and ecosystem health.
Key: The next ISRO-CNES joint mission, offering roughly 60-metre thermal resolution with a 2-3 day revisit.
Establish Indian human spaceflight capability and an Indian space station.
Key: The human spaceflight programme runs through a series of missions, with the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station planned for launch in 2028 on an LVM3 and the remaining modules by 2035 - the subject of India's Paris keynote.
GS Paper 2 > International Relations > Bilateral Agreements; GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology > Space
General Awareness > Science and Current Affairs
In which year is the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) scheduled for launch?
Answer: 2028
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, France's space agency, established in 1961 and headquartered in Paris.
Orbits up to roughly 2,000 km altitude, where crewed stations including the International Space Station and the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station operate.
The upcoming ISRO-CNES thermal infrared mission for high-resolution monitoring of water use, crop stress and ecosystem health.