India-US: Exploring new frontiers in space cooperation

Since the birth of the Indian space program in 1962, the United States trained Indian engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, offered India’s first sounding rockets, the Nike Apache, and also assisted in establishing India’s Thumba Equatorial Launching Station (TERLS). After a hiatus during the latter part of the Cold War, the US-India space cooperation faced reinvigoration in the early 2000s. Following the “Next Steps in Strategic Partnership” in 2004, the Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) was established in 2005. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 hosted NASA’s M3, which detected water molecules on the Moon. The NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) was announced in 2014, and it is now set for launch on July 30. The NISAR is a landmark program, where, for the first time, both countries have jointly developed a satellite, creating muscle memory for more similar programs.

India and the US launched the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in 2023, deepening the strategic imperative to invest in joint space capabilities, create new supply chains, and promote private sector linkages. Human spaceflight, lunar cooperation and commercial space linkages were envisaged as key priority areas. To address regulatory and licensing hurdles in tech transfer, a Strategic Trade Dialogue was created.

A Strategic Framework for Human Spaceflight Cooperation was signed to enhance interoperability and facilitate training of Indian astronauts in the US. Russia (then Soviet Union), through its Interkosmos program, had sent India’s first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, to space in 1984. Four decades later, the second Indian astronaut, Shubhanshu Shukla, went to the International Space Station aboard Axiom-4, a private spaceflight mission operated by Axiom Space of the US.

In 2023, India signed the US-led Artemis Accords for peaceful and sustainable exploration of the Moon, Mars and Asteroids. With Chandrayaan-3, India became the first Artemis Accord signatory to soft land on the Moon, opening up possibilities for joint lunar missions with the US in the future.

The creation of the Commercial Space Sub-Working Group signalled intent to expand from G2G engagements to private sector ties. Since the 2020 Indian space sector reforms, new Indian space companies and startups have sprung up, with many expanding to the US for market access. The US too have been keen to tap into this ecosystem, with startups bagging NASA and DoD Contracts for remote sensing, space situational awareness data, edge computing and space-grade semiconductors.

Managing geopolitical complexities, accessing the US’s nimble innovation base, expertise and commercial opportunities, leveraging existing tech and service sector ties, all may explain the rationale of India’s deepening space cooperation with the US.

Under the rechristened TRUST initiative, newer areas like space connectivity, advanced spaceflight, planetary protection, and advanced space manufacturing have been envisaged. An INDUS Innovation “bridge” was announced for boosting private sector participation in civil space.

In 2024, both countries released joint challenges under the INDUS-X, involving their startups respectively, to build satellite tracking capabilities in Low Earth Orbit. India also joined the US in its Global Sentinel space exercise for boosting space domain awareness and interoperability. China’s growing space capabilities have led both India and the US to jointly develop capabilities to mitigate space-based threats.

For the US, India offers a potential and reliable space supply chain, a large talent pool and access to cost-effective cutting-edge space technologies. For India, the US offers investments, market access, expertise and opportunities to co-develop or co-produce strategic space tech. With clear strategic rationale and prospective commercial opportunities, the India-US space cooperation is set to explore new frontiers.

(The writer is a senior research analyst with the Technology and Society Program at Carnegie India)