Indian and US flags flutter outside Rashtrapati Bhavan. (PTI)

New Delhi, Feb. 27: Top space officials are hoping that India will be able to launch satellites with US-made components through negotiations ongoing on the eve of President George W. Bush’s visit to India.

Delhi and Washington have been “discussing modalities” for India to launch satellites with US-made components which is currently not possible because of existing US licensing policies that govern the export of satellites, the space officials said.

“There are talks under way, and we’ll be happy if this is resolved,” a senior space official told The Telegraph.

While the Indian Space Research Organisation has so far launched four foreign satellites ? two German-built satellites, and a satellite each from Korea and Belgium ? space officials believe the launch market could have been bigger for India had it been possible to launch satellites with US-built components.

“But under existing US policies, satellites with US subsystems can’t even brought here for launches from India,” a space official said.

“The negotiations are complicated, but there is also an environment of cooperation,” the official said.

Isro has already picked two US-made instruments to go as payloads aboard India’s Chandrayaan lunar orbiter in 2008 ? a moon mineral mapper to be built by Brown University and a miniature synthetic aperture radar from Johns Hopkins University.

In the joint statement in July 2005, India and the US had resolved to build closer ties in space exploration, satellite navigation and launch, and in the commercial space arena through the US-India working group on civil space cooperation.

Space officials, however, point out that an attempt in the past to move past licensing hurdles have not panned out. In 2004, Isro and Boeing had signed a “letter of intent” to pursue possible joint development of 2000-kg class satellites, the officials said.

“However, nothing emerged from the announcement, possibly because of the complications and constraints that existing US policies on the export of satellite subsystems pose,” one official said.

The officials said the successful pact between Isro and the European Aerospace Defence and Space (EADS) for the joint fabrication of telecommunication satellites provides a contrast to the experience with letter of intent with Boeing.

The Isro-EADS agreement has already attracted a client ? Eutelsat wants a 2000-kg class communications satellite. Isro will provide the satellite while EADS will develop the communication payloads for the 2000-kg satellite, the officials said.