Charting Indo-US Space Cooperation

Through highs and lows, space collaboration between Washington DC and New Delhi traces back to the heydays of the Cold War and the formative years of ISRO. Will Artemis unfurl a new leaf in this relation?

Indian PM Modi’s visit to the US, amid much fanfare and joint communiques on deepening space collaborations, coincided with India signing the US-led Artemis Accords, becoming the 27th country to join the non-binding agreement that prioritizes space sustainability and lunar flight.

The official joint statement by President Biden and Prime Minister Modi, during the visit in June, talks about India and USA setting “a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation”

The two leaders “applauded our growing cooperation on earth and space science, and space technologies”. This includes, inter alia, developing a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023 and the delivery of the NASAISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite to ISRO’s U.R. Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, India”. NISAR is expected to be launched by 2024.

By Arup Dasgupta

Additionally, Biden and Modi called for enhanced commercial collaboration between the U.S. and Indian private sectors in space, and addressing export controls and facilitating technology transfer.

“President Biden deeply appreciated India’s signing of the Artemis Accords, which advance a common vision of space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.”

The Backdrop: Space Joint Working Group

Just preceding PM Modi’s visit, the eighth meeting of the U.S.India Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) was held on January 30-31 at the Department of State in the US Government.

The media note released after the meeting said “The CSJWG discussions covered collaboration in Earth and space science as well as human space exploration, global navigation satellite systems, spaceflight safety and space situational awareness and policies for commercial space”

“Participants also considered implementation of guidelines and best practices developed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (COPUOS) to ensure the longterm sustainability of outer space activities”, as per the note.

The CSJWG had its genesis in a joint seminar conducted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA and the Indian Astronautical Society in Bangalore during June, 2004 at Bangalore. In March 2005 the governments of US and India set up the CSJWG and the Joint Working Group held its inaugural meeting in Bangalore, India, on June 29-30, 2005.

The areas of cooperation identified at the first meeting were Chandrayaan-1, India’s GAGAN using GPS, a possible earth reception station in India for the U.S. National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), investigation on the comparability and complementarity of data from Landsat and IRS satellites.

The US government report on the meeting also noted that “Closer cooperation in international initiatives such as the Group on Earth Observation as well as efforts to develop a multiple hazards early warning and response system will serve national objectives of both sides”

It also emphasized on the presence of strong complementarities in satellite communications and its various applications, along with space education and training.

A Look Back Into History

To take a glimpse into the past, India and USA have had a long association right from the birth of Indian National Committee for Space Research, INCOSPAR in 1962.

INCOSPAR engineers were trained at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Centre and Wallops Island facility for sounding rockets during 1963.

The same year, India launched its first sounding rocket, a Nike Apache obtained from NASA, from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS ), which was also setup with US assistance.

TERLS was designated as a UN facility to promoting common scientific research during the Cold War era.