Dec. 18 (UPI) — The United States and India will partner on space exploration opportunities and begin joint training to space missions planned in the near future.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer traveled to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to mark the next step in the two nation’s cooperative effort in space exploration on Tuesday.
The respective space agencies for the United States and India are working together to “reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation,” President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly announced in June 2023.
Indian officials affirmed that nation’s commitment by signing the Artemis Accords, which has 51 member nations that are committed to space exploration that benefits all of humanity.
Officials for NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization are identifying opportunities for the joint partnership to accomplish significant milestones, such as India’s pending return to space.
Two ISRO astronauts will train with NASA astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to prepare for a joint mission to the International Space Station called the Axiom-4 mission.
That mission might launch in early 2025 but could take longer to get underway.
NASA and ISRO also are working together to launch a NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission in early 2025.
That mission would launch from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center early next year with the goal of placing a NISAR satellite into low-Earth orbit.
The NISAR satellite would use two NASA- and ISRO-built radar systems to map the surface of Earth’s motion twice every 12 days.
The NISAR satellite would make it easier to predict and respond to natural disasters and other hazards and record changes in natural resources and infrastructure on Earth.
The U.S.-India space partnership also will promote partnerships between startups in each nation that would improve situational awareness in space, advance satellite technology and engage in space launches and exploration.
The two nations also have pledged to promote defensive space cooperation and create opportunities for advancing missile and space-launch technologies, including for commercial satellite launches.
Officials for the ISRO on October announced a planned return to the moon in 2028 to collect 6.6 pounds of lunar samples from the moon’s south pole.
Biden in October also hosted a White House celebration of the traditional Hindu holiday of Diwali.