NASA invites ISRO to join Moon Base programme
NASA has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to participate in its Moon Base programme, a phased effort to build a sustained human presence near the Moon's South Pole.
The invitation was announced at the ninth meeting of the India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), held on August 5-6, 2026 at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.
The meeting was co-chaired by M. Sankaran, Director of the U R Rao Satellite Centre, ISRO, and Dr. Wesley Brooks, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
Discussions built on the recently completed NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission and covered future science and human-spaceflight technology collaboration between the two countries.
Artemis Program and the Artemis Accords
The Artemis Program is NASA's initiative to return humans to the Moon and establish a long-term, sustainable presence, focused on the lunar South Pole, as a stepping stone toward crewed Mars missions. The Artemis Accords, first signed in 2020, are a set of non-binding bilateral principles (grounded in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty) for peaceful, transparent civil space exploration, including provisions on interoperability, resource utilization, and "safety zones."
Key Details
- India signed the Artemis Accords on June 21, 2023, becoming the 27th signatory nation.
- The Accords derive their legal basis from the Outer Space Treaty, 1967, which India has also ratified.
- NASA's proposed Moon Base concept begins with robotic missions and technology demonstrations before progressing to sustained human lunar operations near the South Pole.
ISRO's invitation to the Moon Base programme is a direct outcome of India's Artemis Accords membership, moving bilateral cooperation from framework commitments to concrete mission-level collaboration.
India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG)
The CSJWG is the primary institutional mechanism for civil space cooperation between India and the United States, distinct from purely commercial or defense space channels. It brings together ISRO and NASA (along with the U.S. State Department) to identify and coordinate joint missions.
Key Details
- The CSJWG was established in March 2005; its inaugural meeting was held in Bengaluru on June 29-30, 2005.
- Early cooperation areas included Chandrayaan-1 data sharing and satellite navigation (GAGAN).
- The ninth CSJWG meeting (2026) marks two decades of the mechanism and returned to Bengaluru, where it began.
The Moon Base invitation was formally conveyed through this established bilateral mechanism, illustrating how long-running institutional working groups translate into new mission-specific commitments.
NISAR Mission (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar)
NISAR is a joint NASA-ISRO Earth observation satellite using dual-frequency (L-band from NASA, S-band from ISRO) synthetic aperture radar to monitor changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces with high precision, supporting disaster response, agriculture, and climate studies.
Key Details
- NISAR launched on July 30, 2025, aboard ISRO's GSLV-F16 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
- It represents an approximately $1.5 billion joint investment, described as the largest bilateral space collaboration between the two countries to date.
- It is the first satellite to use dual-frequency SAR imaging for systematic global observation.
NISAR's successful launch and operation is cited as the foundation of trust that led both sides to discuss deeper cooperation, including the Moon Base invitation, at the ninth CSJWG.
- Ninth CSJWG meeting: August 5-6, 2026, ISRO HQ, Bengaluru.
- India signed the Artemis Accords: June 21, 2023 (27th signatory nation).
- NISAR launch: July 30, 2025, via GSLV-F16, cost approximately $1.5 billion.
- CSJWG established: March 2005; first meeting also held in Bengaluru.