Overview
- The US Embassy in India announced Tuesday that NASA has formally invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to participate in its Moon Base programme following the ninth India–US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting held in Bengaluru on August 5–6.
- The offer is an initial, policy-level invitation rather than a final agreement and the two agencies will now negotiate ISRO’s specific roles, technical contributions, funding and legal arrangements.
- Officials agreed to advance discussions on open scientific data sharing under the Artemis Accords and they reaffirmed support for UN COPUOS guidelines on the long-term sustainability of outer space activities.
- The move builds on recent US–India cooperation such as the NISAR Earth-observation mission and India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing, and could expand India’s participation from single missions to sustained lunar operations.
- NASA’s Moon Base is planned near the lunar South Pole as a scientific outpost to support lunar research and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars, and India’s domestic roadmaps such as Space Vision 2047 and Gaganyaan provide context for what ISRO might contribute.