G20 podium
Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India has decided to join the Artemis Accords, which brings likeminded countries together on civil space exploration; and NASA and ISRO have agreed to a joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS), in 2024.
The signing of new agreements between the two national space agencies was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US.
“India joining the Artemis Accords tie in well with the country’s new Space Policy 2023 and will greatly boost its space industry,” said an ISRO official.
The Artemis Accords lay out guidelines for cooperation between civil space agencies and governments regarding the use of space, including the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids, to improve operational safety, lessen the uncertainty, and support its beneficial and sustainable use for peaceful purposes.
The Accords were initially signed on October 13, 2020, by the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. India becomes the agreement’s 27th signatory in June 2023.
India’s capabilities in space affairs significantly outshine its emerging know-how in other areas and compete with the best in the world, which is why space deserves to be treated as a major vertical in its own right.
