Nasa invites Isro for Moon base programme, seeks wider space cooperation with India

NEW DELHI: Nasa on Tuesday invited Isro to join its Moon Base programme under the Artemis Accords, as India and the United States discussed expanding cooperation in civil and commercial space activities.The two countries also agreed to advance discussions on sharing open scientific data under the Artemis Accords, according to a US Embassy press release.The developments came during the ninth meeting of the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), hosted by India on August 5-6 at the Indian Space Research Organisation's headquarters in Bengaluru.The meeting focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in civil and commercial space, while exploring future partnerships in space science and human spaceflight technologies.ISRO chairman and department of space secretary Dr V Narayanan and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor addressed the opening session and highlighted the importance of further strengthening bilateral space cooperation.The meeting was co-chaired by M Sankaran, Director of ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Centre, on the Indian side, and Dr Wesley Brooks, assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, and Kathleen Karika, Nasa associate administrator for international and interagency relations, on the US side.The discussions were held under the India-US Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) Initiative and followed the February 2025 Joint Leaders' Statement issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.Both sides discussed expanding cooperation following the successful launch of the joint Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission last year, besides exploring future collaborations in space science and human spaceflight technology.They also reaffirmed their commitment to advancing United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) guidelines on the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and reviewed ongoing multilateral efforts to strengthen the committee's effectiveness.