America to send an Indian astronaut to ISS by year-end: US Envoy

Mumbai: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said America will send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station by the end of this year.

The NISAR project, a joint Earth-observing mission between US space agency NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is also likely to be launched by the end of the year, Garcetti said on Wednesday.

“We promised when PM (Narendra) Modi came (to the US in 2023) that by the end of this year, we will do this and our mission is still on track to be able to go in space this year,” he said. He said both India and the US should look at coordinating research and critical emerging technology so that they can increasingly leverage each other’s strengths. The diplomat said India landed ‘Chandrayaan 3’ on the Moon last year at a fraction of the cost that the US incurred on a similar lunar mission. “The US has some capacities that India still doesn’t have today. When the two are combined, both countries have those capacities,” he said.

On the civilian nuclear energy arena, Garcetti said after elections, the Indian government can address outstanding liability issues and move forward “arm in arm and hand in hand”.