ISRO’s PSLV C25 mission. Photo: ISRO

[Via Satellite 10-062014] Com Dev International has signed a new launch contract for the M3M satellite originally slated to launch on a Russian Soyuz in June 2014. Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has scheduled the satellite for a 2015 launch on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Com Dev’s satellite was pulled from the Soyuz manifest following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has assisted Com Dev in securing the new launch and attended the ceremony for the agreement.

CSA, the Public Works Government Services Canada for Defence Research and Development Canada awarded the M3M contract to Com Dev, which will be able to combine Automatic Identification System (AIS) information with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from Radarsat 2. Com Dev’s joint venture with Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos, exactEarth, for which it is the majority owner, has a commercial data-sharing license to use the satellite as well. exactEarth has launched with ISRO before; its NTS satellite flew aboard the PSLV-A1 rocket in April 2008.