"NASA invites ISRO to join Moon Base programme under Artemis framework"
Artemis Accords
US-led bilateral agreements establishing norms (transparency, interoperability, safety zones) for civil lunar and deep-space exploration.
NISAR
NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar; first co-developed, co-funded major space hardware mission between the two agencies, using L-band and S-band radar.
India's engagement with the United States in civil space has deepened progressively over two decades, evolving from episodic technical exchanges to a structured bilateral architecture. The foundational legal instrument is the Outer Space Treaty (1967), to which both countries are signatories, which establishes that space exploration shall be carried out for the benefit of all countries and that no nation may claim sovereignty over celestial bodies. Building on this multilateral baseline, the two countries have developed a dedicated bilateral channel: the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group, which meets periodically to coordinate missions, data-sharing protocols, and joint research priorities.
The strategic context for current cooperation was set by India's Space Sector Reforms of 2020 and the Indian Space Policy of 2023, which opened India's space economy to private participation and signalled that ISRO would increasingly function as a strategic and R&D anchor rather than a sole operator. This institutional maturation made India a more credible partner for complex, multi-agency international missions. Simultaneously, the Artemis Accords, launched by NASA in 2020, created a US-led multilateral framework of principles for civil lunar and deep-space exploration — covering transparency, interoperability, peaceful purposes, and the registration of space objects — that India formally joined in 2023 as the 27th signatory. The Accords now count 70 member countries, making them the dominant governance framework for the next phase of lunar exploration.
The Artemis Accords are a set of bilateral agreements between NASA and partner nations, grounded in the principles of the Outer Space Treaty and the Registration Convention, but operationalised for the specific context of lunar and deep-space missions. They are not a treaty requiring Senate ratification in the US or parliamentary approval in signatory states; rather, they are executive-level political commitments that establish norms — transparency in operations, open scientific data sharing, interoperability of systems, and the concept of 'safety zones' around lunar operations. Critics, notably Russia and China, have argued that the Accords effectively extend US influence over the governance of space resources, a concern rooted in the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (2015), which asserts American citizens' rights to own resources extracted from celestial bodies.
The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission is the most technically ambitious product of this bilateral relationship. A joint Earth-observation satellite using both L-band (NASA) and S-band (ISRO) synthetic aperture radar, NISAR is designed to measure ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, natural hazards, and sea-level rise with unprecedented precision. …
Consider the following statements:
The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO
1.is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission
2.made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit Mars after USA
3.made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit the Mars in its very first attempt
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to 'Astrosat', the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1.Other than USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space.
2.Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650 km above the surface of the Earth.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
With reference to the Artemis Accords, consider the following statements:
1.India signed the Artemis Accords in 2023 as the 27th signatory country.
2.The Artemis Accords are legally binding treaties ratified by the legislatures of signatory countries.
3.The Accords include provisions on transparency, interoperability, and the concept of safety zones around lunar operations.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission is significant because:
1.It is the first co-developed and co-funded major space hardware mission between NASA and ISRO.
2.It uses L-band radar provided by NASA and S-band radar provided by ISRO.
3.Its primary objective is human spaceflight to the International Space Station.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Assertion (A): India's participation in the Artemis Accords does not contradict its principle of strategic autonomy in foreign policy.
Reason (R): The Artemis Accords are non-binding executive commitments, and India simultaneously maintains independent space programmes and space dialogue with multiple major space powers.
Which of the following is correct?
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