India-US Astronaut Mission To Space Station Next Year In New Deal: Sources

Washington DC:

In a landmark agreement, India has decided to join the Artemis Accords, an American-led effort to send humans to the Moon again by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond, White House sources said today. 

The development comes during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US and hours before he is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. 

Apart from joining the Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have also agreed to conduct a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024, the sources said. 

NASA, in coordination with the US Department of State, had established the Artemis Accords in 2020 together with seven other founding member nations.

“The accords reinforce the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners support, including the public release of scientific data,” the NASA website states. 

It adds that international cooperation on Artemis is intended not only to bolster space exploration but to enhance peaceful relationships between nations.

Earlier in the day, General Electric’s aerospace arm announced that it has teamed up with state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to make fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force in India.

The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with General Electric chairman H Lawrence Culp Jr in Washington. 

India and the US are also set to announce H-1B visa processing changes and open new consulates in a big step-up in diplomatic ties, sources have told NDTV.