On Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide grant assistance for the launch of the Munal satellite. According to a statement from the MEA, Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson, stated that the satellite was developed in Nepal by the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and will be launched on NSIL’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle at no cost.
In a post on X, Jaiswal said, “An important milestone in India-Nepal Space cooperation. Today, @MEAIndia and @NSIL_India signed an MoU for grant assistance for the launch of the Munal satellite. The satellite developed in Nepal, under the aegis of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), will be launched on NSIL’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on a gratis basis.”
Surendra Thapa, Charge d’Affaires at the Embassy of Nepal and one of the attendees at the event, praised the relationship between India and Nepal.
“Thanks to the MEA for inviting me to this event and witnessing this historic event. India and Nepal have engaged in every field. Now this engagement has gone to outer space. We used to say that Nepal-India relations are as high as the Himalayas and as deep as the Indian Ocean. Now we can say that it is as high as our Munal Satellite,” he said.
According to a statement, the Launch Service Agreement for the Munal Satellite, between NSIL and NAST, was signed on January 4 in Nepal during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to co-chair the 7th JCM meeting.
The Munal Satellite is an indigenous creation developed in Nepal under the guidance of NAST. APN, a Nepali space startup, helped Nepali students with the design and construction of the satellite. Its goal is to create a database of vegetation density on Earth’s surface. The statement noted that the satellite is anticipated to be launched soon aboard NSIL’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.