Madhavan Nair, head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said the two sides signed an agreement to send a European satellite into orbit from the Indian-built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by the end of next year.

Nair said it would be the first EU satellite to be launched by India, which has sent some of its own satellites into orbit from the European cosmodrome in French Guiana.

Nair said his agency was also negotiating with Singapore to send a satellite into space as India seeks to become a player in the lucrative global launch market.

India is meanwhile stepping up cooperation with the United States, and Nair said the two countries' space scientists and industry experts would meet from June 21 to 25 in India's technology hub Bangalore.

"We are trying to seek whatever avenues for cooperation and identify areas of cooperation for the future," Nair told reporters.

US President George W. Bush in January announced an agreement for the two countries to deepen cooperation in high-technology trade, including space and civilian nuclear activities.

India in October used the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to send into space its Resourcesat-1 which is meant to help applications in agriculture and disaster management.

India has an ambitious plan to send an unmanned mission to the moon by 2008.

SPACE.WIRE