NASA Invites India to Join Ambitious Lunar Base Programme

The United States has invited India to join its ambitious lunar base programme, the US ambassador to New Delhi said on Tuesday, in a move to deepen the US-India space partnership. Ambassador Sergio Gor said NASA has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to “join their lunar base programme.” The announcement came during the ninth meeting of the India-US civil space joint working group, hosted by India on 5-6 August at the Indian Space Research Organisation headquarters in the southern city of Bengaluru. “Both sides discussed expanding cooperation… as well as pursuing future collaboration in human spaceflight science and technology,” the US Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement on Tuesday. NASA has described the lunar base as “humanity’s first outpost on the Moon, a place where astronauts will live, work, and explore near the lunar South Pole.” “Through a series of crewed and uncrewed missions, NASA and its partners will build the infrastructure needed to support a sustained human presence on the Moon, unlock new scientific discoveries, and prepare for the deep space exploration to come,” NASA said.