Modi pitches India's frugal space prowess at rocket launch

Reuters
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes out of a meeting room to receive his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay before the start of their bilateral meeting in New Delhi May 27, 2014. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for India to be the world's low-cost space technology supplier, minutes after witnessing the launch of a rocket carrying five satellites from France, Singapore, Germany and Canada on Monday. The launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle bolsters India's goal of capturing more of the $304 billion annual global space market, and Modi seized the moment with an uplifting speech about India's prowess in cheap space technology. "This fills every Indian's heart with pride and I can see it reflected in the joy and satisfaction on your faces," said Modi, from the launch site of India's southeastern coast. "Truly this is a global endorsement of India's space capability," he said, adding that India's current Mars mission cost less than the budget of the Hollywood science fiction film Gravity. (Reporting by Sruthi Gottipati; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Ron Popeski)