NASA Invite ISRO: In the 9th India-US Space Joint Working Group Meeting held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on 5 and 6 August, both the countries discussed furthering space cooperation.

NASA with space agencies

NASA Invites ISRO: The US space agency NASA has invited India to join its Moon Base Program. This offer could give a new direction to India-US space cooperation. India has already proven its capabilities by successfully soft landing Chandrayaan-3 near the Moon's south pole.  

At the 9th India-US Space Joint Working Group Meeting held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on August 5th and 6th, the two countries discussed advancing space cooperation. During this meeting, NASA invited ISRO to participate in its Moon Base program. This collaboration is considered an important step towards advancing the partnership between the two countries under the Artemis Accords. Let's explore which global space agencies NASA has worked with and when India has had the opportunity.

What is NASA's Moon Base Program?

NASA is working on a plan to develop a permanent human base near the Moon's south pole for long-term human presence. The goal is to provide access to the Moon and the infrastructure to accommodate astronauts, live, work, conduct scientific research, and utilize essential technologies.

This plan will be developed in several phases. Initially, robotic missions will gather information about the Moon's south pole. Subsequently, facilities such as power, communications, transportation, and logistics will be developed. Later, the plan is to develop habitats and other facilities where astronauts can live for long periods of time.

Why did NASA call ISRO?

India has strengthened its technological capabilities for lunar missions over the past few years. Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed near the Moon's south pole on August 23, 2023, making India the first country to achieve this feat and the fourth in the world to successfully soft-land on the lunar surface. Given India's achievement and lunar mission experience, this opportunity to collaborate with NASA is crucial. This could also provide India with an opportunity to gain international experience and technology related to long-term human activities on the Moon.

With which space agencies of the world has NASA worked?

NASA has worked with many of the world's leading space agencies on various space missions and scientific projects. NASA's partnerships for the International Space Station (ISS) have been with Russia's Roscosmos, Europe's European Space Agency (ESA), Japan's JAXA, and Canada's Canadian Space Agency (CSA). NASA also has a long-standing collaboration with India's ISRO. The two agencies worked together on the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission. NASA's international collaboration spans numerous areas, including Earth science, the Moon, Mars, the space station, and human spaceflight.

When did India get the opportunity?

NASA and India's ISRO have long collaborated on space science. A framework agreement in 2008 furthered cooperation between the two agencies. NASA's Mini-SAR and Moon Mineralogy Mapper instruments were sent on the Chandrayaan-1 mission. Mini-SAR played a crucial role in detecting ice deposits near the Moon's north pole. Subsequently, the two countries expanded their cooperation on Earth and Mars missions. In 2014, NASA and ISRO signed a partnership agreement for the NISAR mission. NISAR is a joint mission to study changes in the Earth's surface.