Briefing the media about several significant decisions taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s USA visit, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh said the agreement signed between India and the US on cooperation in Space Research will take the bilateral relations to a new high.
Singh today said that India and the USA are to break new ground in the Space. The Minister said, the signing of “Artemis Accords ” and Joint Indo-US mission to the International Space Station in 2024 will provide a new momentum to the space sector.
Explaining the purpose of Artemis Accord, the Minister said it is a common vision with USA and other countries via principles, guidelines and best practices.
On the joint mission to the International Space Station, said Dr Jitendra Singh, India-US will develop a framework for joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that on Semiconductors, Micron will invest 800 Million US Dollars with additional financial support from Indian government. He added that similarly, US Quantum Consortium has welcomed and invited the Indian Quantum industry as its members.
Dr Jitendra Singh said ISRO is likely to team up with NASA as it plans to return to the moon with a manned mission by 2025.
The joint statement from the US and India states, “President Biden and Prime Minister Modi welcomed the decision of NASA and ISRO to develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023. The leaders hailed the announcement by NASA to provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, with the goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the ISRO in association with its commercial arms, has successfully launched 385 foreign satellites from 34 countries on board PSLV.
The Artemis Accords was signed on October 13, 2020 by eight founder nations – Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, UAE, UK and the United States. The Artemis Accord is a non-binding agreement with no financial commitments.
It aims at enhancing the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space with intension of advancing the Artemis program.
