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International space cooperation
More than 430 payloads from 34 countries have flown on Indian rockets, France builds Earth observation satellites with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and India signed the United States led Artemis Accords in 2023. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has now invited ISRO into its lunar outpost, and at the first International Space Summit in Paris India argued for cooperation over confrontation in crowded orbits.
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2025: Axiom-4, SpaDeX and Gaganyaan as microgravity missions
What India brings to a partnership
- More than 430 payloads from 34 countries have flown on Indian rockets.
- ISRO aims at an indigenous space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, by 2035 and an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040.
Who India flies with
European Space Agency
- Ground stations to track Gaganyaan, India's crewed spaceflight missions
CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), France's space agency
- Built Megha-Tropiques and SARAL with ISRO
- TRISHNA, a joint thermal infrared mission tracking land surface temperature and evapotranspiration
- TRISHNA due on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) next year
The Artemis programme and Moon Base
2023
India signs the Artemis Accords
2027
Artemis III, a crewed test in Earth orbit
2028
Artemis IV attempts the lunar landing
around 2030
Moon Base takes shape near the south pole
- Moon Base is a planned crewed outpost near the lunar south pole, built in stages for research and lunar resources.
- India was the twenty-seventh of about 70 signatories to the Artemis Accords, a group that includes neither Russia nor China.
Why everyone wants the lunar south pole
- Sunlight lasts longer near the lunar poles, which a solar powered outpost needs.
- Permanently shadowed regions there hold water ice, the resource that makes a base worth building.
What it takes to get there
- A launch window is when Earth, the Moon and the spacecraft align so the target orbit costs least fuel.
- For the Moon a window opens roughly once a month.
- A south pole mission needs a near polar orbit, which the 5.1 degree tilt of the Moon's orbit complicates.
- A solar powered lander must also land in sunlight.
What has happened
10 Sep 2026
France hosted the first International Space Summit in Paris, where India argued for cooperation over confrontation, sustainability over short term gain, and inclusion over exclusion.
- Its four pillars are security and defence, competitiveness, regulation of activities such as space debris, and science and exploration.
- India welcomed support for the International Telecommunication Union's framework for frequency management.
- The European Space Agency opened talks with ISRO on human spaceflight, lunar exploration and the Venus Orbiter Mission.
PIB, 10 Sep 2026: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addresses the International Space Summit in Paris, France (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 10 Sep 2026: ESA to explore cooperation with ISRO in human space flight, lunar and Venus missions (opens in a new tab)
26 Aug 2026
China called off Chang'e 7 and postponed its lunar south pole mission to next year.
The Hindu, 26 Aug 2026: Why lunar missions have launch windows (opens in a new tab)
12 Aug 2026
NASA invited ISRO to join Moon Base, at the ninth India-United States Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting.
- NASA is seeking partners because its budget has been cut.
- Joining would build ISRO's experience for human spaceflight.
- Critics say the Artemis Accords sidestep the 1979 Moon Agreement.
- ISRO also risks being locked into NASA's technology ecosystem, and technology denial.
The Hindu, 12 Aug 2026: NASA invites ISRO to join Moon Base programme (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 18 Aug 2026: What India stands to gain by joining NASA's Moon Base programme (opens in a new tab)