US Ambassador’s ISRO visit highlights space cooperation with India

The US Ambassador to India, His Excellency Eric Garcetti, visited ISRO headquarters today and met with the Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, DOS, Shri Somanath S. The visit highlighted the ongoing cooperation between India and the United States in the field of space.

The Ambassador and the delegation were welcomed by senior officials of ISRO. The discussions that followed highlighted both countries’ mutual interests and shared goals in advancing space science, technology, and the space economy. Ongoing associations through various Joint Working Groups, Artemis Accord, NISAR, and the use of the Laser Reflectometer Array on Chandrayaan-3 were also discussed. The Ambassador expressed his admiration for ISRO’s accomplishments and its role in global space exploration. Future programs, including the exchange visits of both sides’ professionals, continuation of balloon experiments, and identifying milestone events, were discussed. ISRO emphasized the need to address access to critical components and items to expedite collaborative missions.

Ambassador Garcetti inquired about the role played by the Department of Space in fostering commercial space activities. Chairman Somanath elaborated on this, mentioning that for the first time, payload technology and space-bound hardware are being built in Indian facilities that are outside ISRO labs. ISRO plans to source payloads and satellites for its programs from Indian companies and enable them to enter the global market.

Other significant discussions included NASA’s participation in India’s proposal for a G-20 satellite for environment and climate change, an advanced imaging spectrometer satellite as a follow-up mission for NISAR, and encouragement of cooperation between commercial companies from both countries for quicker and more effective outcomes, Gaganyaan cargo module as an option for transfer of cargo to ISS. The US Ambassador has also proposed a QUAD satellite. Chairman, ISRO pointed out the opportunity to develop advanced detectors and packaging technologies with US-India academic institutions. He emphasized building and standardizing docking interfaces across human space programs to enable the utilization of space platforms by other countries and joining hands to build a navigation system on the moon, either in orbit or on the surface.

The visit concluded with a commitment to further strengthening the partnership between India and the United States in the field of space. Both sides expressed optimism about future collaborative endeavors.
BCS Bureau