Bhutan will receive high-resolution photos from the India-Bhutan SAT

The India-Bhutan SAT, jointly developed by India and Bhutan, was launched into space by the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO's) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Saturday.

The PSLV C54 carried the India-Bhutan SAT, along with India's Earth Observation Satellite-06 and other satellites, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

In a video message on Twitter, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described it as a "historic milestone" in India's bilateral cooperation with Bhutan.

In order to witness the launch of the India-Bhutan SAT, a high-level team from Bhutan headed by Lyonpo Karma Donnen Wangdi, the Minister of Information and Communications of Bhutan, made a special trip to Sriharikota. A week-long familiarisation visit by an 18-member Bhutanese media group to India was also in progress when the India-Bhutan SAT was launched in Sriharikota.

India has helped to enhance the capability of Bhutanese engineers through hands-on training at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru on satellite manufacturing and testing, as well as on processing and analysing satellite data. This resulted in the collaborative creation of the special satellite for Bhutan, which was launched today.

According to the MEA, Bhutan will receive high-resolution photos from the India-Bhutan SAT for the management of its natural resources.

The MEA also highlighted Prime Minister Modi's August 2019 visit to Bhutan, during which the two leaders jointly inaugurated the South Asia Satellite's ground station in Thimphu, which was built with assistance from ISRO.