NEW DELHI, Sept 30 (KUNA) -- Oil rich Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, which houses the famous Baikonur satellite launching facility, is considering to partner the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for joint projects for construction of various types of satellites and training of engineers and experts. A five-member high-level delegation led by the Chairman of National Cosmic Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Talghat Mussabayev, is currently in India for discussions with ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair on the bilateral partnership, Indias leading English daily "The Hindu" reported Sunday.

During the week-long visit, the delegation will visit the ISRO headquarters, the ISRO Satellite Centre, the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Commanding Networks Headquarter and the Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre in Southern Indian city of Bangalore, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram (Southern Indian state of Kerala), and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota and the National Remote Sensing Agency in Hyderabad (both in Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh). Kazakhstan was looking for long-term cooperation with India as the two countries had a lot of expertise to share in terms of construction of satellites as also their launching, The Hindu said.

Kazakhstan is developing a new generation rocket launcher that would be eco-friendly. Called Baiterek, the new launcher will be capable of placing 30-tonne charge into orbit. It will be launched from a specially designed launch pad at Baikonur. The Central Asian Republic hoped to construct a dozen telecommunication satellites and put in place a satellite navigation system by 2020, the daily said