Over the moon

While some uncertainty continues to dog the future of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Indo-US space agreement does not suffer from similar constraints.

While some uncertainty continues to dog the future of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Indo-US space agreement does not suffer from similar constraints. This became evident when, on May 8, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, signed an MoU on the inclusion of two US scientific instruments on board India’s mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-I.

The Indo-US joint statement, signed this March, declared that both countries will move forward with agreements that will permit the launch of US satellites and satellites containing US components by Indian space launch vehicles. Also a mention was made about US interest in the Chandrayaan-I mission.

With the recent inking of this deal, a new phase in the ISRO-NASA relationship has begun. The ties go back almost 40 years. NASA helped India in the early ’60s to start their rocket programme at Thumba. However, the relationship rapidly chilled when India carried out its 1998 nuclear tests at Pokhran and faced US sanctions. This development affected ISRO’s progress considerably, but Indian scientists accepted the challenge and today the growth of space technology in India has come into its own. Now it is the US that requests India to carry its scientific probes on board an Indian moon mission.

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India will carry two US scientific payloads along with its own five payloads on the Chandrayaan-I moon mission. The US will place mini-SAR (mini-synthetic aperture radar and spectrometer with 0.3 micron to 0.9-micron capabilities) to map the cold regions, and a moon minerology mapper. The radar will scan for ice deposits while the mapper will track the mineral and chemical composition of the moon. The US instruments were selected, on the basis of merit, of 16 firm proposals from all over the world received in response to ISRO’s announcement that there is such an opportunity available.

India will also carry three payloads developed by the European Space Agency and one from the Bulgarian Space Laboratory. This two-year mission is expected to map the lunar surface and investigate its surface properties. Both India and the US are interested in mapping the lunar surface for it mineral and chemical properties. Essentially, the search is for the availability of Helium-3 over the moon’s surface, which is predicted by many as a likely answer to the global energy crises.

Many describe this deal as a milestone in Indo-US relations but the US administration has not yet lifted all the sanctions put on the Indian space programme. Sanctions are still applied to three major Indian space science establishments. Lifting them would provide an immense fillip to the Indian space programme and raise Indo-US relations to a new level.

ajey.lele@expressindia.com, The author is a defence analyst

In this screengrab from a video posted on Sept. 4, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during a meeting with National Awardee Teachers at his official residence, in New Delhi. (@NarendraModi via PTI Photo)

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