The increasing level of cooperation between the US and India in outer space was highlighted by an official visit by the head of Nasa, which has led to discussions between the Indian space agency and Boeing Co., Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin LLC, and Voyager Space Holdings Inc.
The Indian government's space agency said in a statement on Wednesday that Indian businesses might be involved in the possible collaborations.
Spacecraft testing and integration facilities in Bengaluru are among the stops on Bill Nelson's tour of India this week. These facilities are in preparation for a combined US-Indian Earth-observing mission, which is set to launch in 2024. The Indian Space Research Organization and Nasa have been working closely together in space, and Nelson's visit highlights this. The ISRO has accomplished a lot this year, including landing a spacecraft near the moon's south pole in August, among other things. An Indian astronaut will be sent to the International Space Station next year, according to plans from the two space agencies. Nelson was present in Washington, DC, in June when India and over twenty other nations inked the Artemis Accords, an American-supported initiative to lay out guidelines for space travel.
Isro chairman S. Somanath informed the Times of India in June that Blue Origin is "very keen" on the idea of utilizing an Indian rocket as a crew capsule to serve their planned space station Orbital Reef in low-Earth orbit. According to local media, Blue Origin is in early talks to secure orbital launch capability from Larsen & Toubro Ltd., an engineering equipment business based in India.
Voyager, based in Denver, Colorado, announced in July a preliminary agreement to investigate the possibility of utilizing Indian rockets for the launch and deployment of small satellites with NewSpace India Ltd., the commercial arm of Isro.
Starlab, an upcoming space station, would be serviced by Gaganyaan, the crewed spacecraft now under development by the Indian space agency, according to a memorandum of understanding signed in July between Voyager, Isro, and the Indian national space promotion and authorization center.
Based on reports in the local media, Boeing is now in the process of contemplating the design and construction of a space capsule simulator for India’s human spaceflight project. However, no contract has been signed at this time.
In 2025, India will undertake its first crewed mission launch, one of its forthcoming programs.
The country's intentions to build a new launchpad and a next-generation launch vehicle are an effort to increase its lunar ambitions and achieve the aim of putting humans on the moon by 2040.
A space station, a Venus orbiter, and a Mars landing are all on Isro's list of things to accomplish by 2035.
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