NASA invites ISRO to join the Moon Base programme

Why in the news?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has asked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to join its Moon Base programme, a project to establish a permanent research station on the Moon. The offer exposes a tension between the chance to accelerate ISRO’s own crewed-mission goals and the risk of locking India into another agency’s technology ecosystem. Space cooperation has continued to progress even amid the volatility of India-US relations.

What is the Moon Base programme?

1. About: An ambitious project to establish a permanent research station on the Moon where astronauts can live, work, and carry out experiments for extended periods.
2. Sequence: It is the logical follow-up to landing humans on the Moon, aimed at preparing the ground for longer stays.

What is the Artemis programme?

1. About: A US-led programme that aims to land humans on the Moon before 2028, the first crewed return since 1972.
2. Purpose: It is spearheaded by the United States and is designed to move faster and more efficiently by bringing in partner countries and private companies.

What are the Artemis Accords?

1. About: A US-led coalition of spacefaring countries setting principles for cooperative and sustainable lunar exploration, which India has already signed.
2. Contested feature: The Accords sidestep and seek to replace the 1979 Moon Agreement, a framework for multilateral governance of lunar resources.

What is the 1979 Moon Agreement?

1. About: An international agreement that seeks to develop a multilateral governance framework for the use of lunar resources.
2. Relevance: The Artemis Accords are seen as an alternative that the Moon Agreement’s supporters view as bypassing multilateral governance.

What does India gain from joining?

1. Crewed-mission experience: ISRO, which plans to land humans on the Moon by 2040, would gain hands-on experience in executing complex crewed missions.
2. Technology access: Participation offers access to technologies relevant to sustained lunar operations.
3. Existing commitments: India has signed the Artemis Accords and agreed with the US to develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation.
4. Strategic stakes: Over coming decades the Moon could become strategically and economically important as countries begin to extract lunar resources.

What are the risks of joining? (the central tension)

1. US-led alliance perception: The Artemis Accords are increasingly seen as a US-led alliance, and two major space powers, China and Russia, are not part of it.
2. Technology lock-in: It is important that ISRO does not get locked into NASA’s technology ecosystem, which would make it vulnerable to technology denial.
3. Goal displacement: Cooperation should help ISRO achieve its own goals faster, not lead it to abandon or delay them in the service of someone else’s goals.
4. Wariness of structures: India has been wary of joining such international structures, and signing the Accords already represented a choice.

Government Initiatives in the Space Sector

1. Gaganyaan: India’s human spaceflight programme to send astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
2. Bharatiya Antariksh Station: India’s planned space station for sustained microgravity research.
3. IN-SPACe: The body enabling private participation in the space sector.

Challenges for India’s Lunar Cooperation

1. Technology denial: Dependence on foreign systems risks future denial.
2. Alliance optics: Alignment with a US-led coalition affects ties with other space powers.
3. Governance gap: Competing frameworks leave lunar resource rules unsettled.
4. Cost and capability: Crewed deep-space missions demand large, sustained investment.
5. Autonomy risk: Partner timelines may divert ISRO from its own priorities.

“[2025] Consider the following space missions:

I. Axiom-4

II. SpaDeX

III. Gaganyaan

How many of the space missions given above encourage and support microgravity research?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All the three

(d) None