New Delhi: In a significant development that will give a major boost to India’s Chandrayaan projects, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America has invited Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to join its Moon Base programme. Under the programme scientists will stay for a longer time on the moon and carry out research.
The discussion on this came up during the ninth meeting of the Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) between India with the US last week at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru. The CSJWG is part of India-US civil space cooperation,
“NASA invited ISRO to join its Moon Base program, building on the two countries’ partnership under the Artemis Accords. The two sides also agreed to advance discussions for cooperation on open scientific data sharing under the Accords,” a joint statement following the talks said.
The Moon Base programme will boost India’s own Chandrayaan programme for which it is also collaborating with Japan. As per NASA, Moon Base is humanity’s first lunar outpost, a place where astronauts will live, work, and explore near the Moon’s South Pole.
“Through a series of crewed and uncrewed missions, NASA and its partners will build the infrastructure needed to support an enduring human presence on the lunar surface while advancing science, technology, and exploration for the benefit of all,” say the details of the programme on NASA’s website.
During the CSJWG meeting both sides discussed pursuing future science and human space flight technology collaborations and expanding cooperation in this area following the successful launch of the joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission last year.
NISAR is a joint earth-observing satellite built by NASA and ISRO launched on July 30, 2025, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. It is the first satellite to use dual-frequency radar imaging for active data collection to monitor global ecosystems, ice sheets, sea ice dynamics, glacier flows, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and other natural hazards to assist researchers and disaster management groups.
The joint statement also said that the meeting advanced civil and commercial space cooperation under the India-US Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) Initiative, in line with the February 2025 Joint Leaders’ Statement issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump.
Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space and Sergio Gor, the US Ambassador to India addressed the opening segment and highlighted the significance of further strengthening the bilateral space cooperation, a joint statement by two sides said. The meeting was co-chaired on the Indian side by Mr. M. Sankaran, Director, UR Rao Satellite Centre, ISRO and Dr. Wesley Brooks, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the US and Ms. Kathleen Karika, NASA Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations.
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