‘India needs to join US-led Artemis Accords’

Washington: India, which is a global power and one of the few countries with independent access to space, needs to be a part of the Artemis team, which brings like-minded countries together on civil space exploration, a top NASA official has said.

Grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (OST), the Artemis Accords are a non-binding set of principles designed to guide civil space exploration and use in the 21st century. It is an American-led effort to return humans to the moon by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond.

Bhavya Lal, the associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy within the office of the NASA Administrator, said on Friday that as of May 2023, there are 25 signatories to the Artemis Accords and hoped that India becomes the 26th country.

“I think signing Artemis Accords should be a priority (for India). I mean, NASA feels pretty strongly that India, it’s a global power. It’s one of the few countries with independent access to space, has a thriving launch industry, has been to the moon, has been to Mars, it needs to be part of the Artemis team,” she said.

“It’s about how we make sure space remains sustainable for future generations. So, I think the benefit is that like-minded countries who have similar values have a chance to explore together,” Lal said.

The benefit is that India declares that they are a global space power and value things like sustainable exploration, responsible use of space, cooperation, transparency, she said.

Lal, who was born in Mathura and grew up in New Delhi, previously served as the acting chief technologist of NASA and was the first woman to hold the position in over 60 years of NASA’s history. Prior to her current role and in the first 100 days of the Biden administration, Lal was the acting chief of staff at NASA and directed the agency’s transition under the administration of President Joe Biden. Lal said India and the US need to do more in the Artemis programme and do more things on the moon together. “We actually recently set up a human space flight working group. The goal of that group is to develop strategies for what we should be doing and how. I wish that team much success in coming up with tangible opportunities to collaborate,” she said.

“Nisar (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is supposed to be launched early next year. I hope it’s on track,” said the highest-ranking Indian American in NASA ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit next week.

Prime Minister Modi arrives here next week on an Official State Visit at the invitation of President Biden, during which space collaboration and related issues are expected to be one of the major areas of discussions. India and the US

recently set up a human space flight working group under their Initiative of Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) Dialogue.