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NASA has invited ISRO to join its Moon Base programme under the Artemis Accords framework.
The invitation was discussed at the 9th India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting, held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on August 5-6, 2026.
India signed the Artemis Accords on June 21, 2023.
Both sides agreed to advance cooperation on open scientific data sharing.
The expanded cooperation follows the July 2025 launch of the joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.
The Artemis Accords are a set of NON-BINDING principles for civil space exploration, launched by the United States in 2020. They cover transparency, interoperability, emergency assistance, release of scientific data, registration of space objects and the preservation of heritage sites. Being non-binding is the key characteristic for exams: they are a political commitment among signatories rather than a treaty like the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. India became a signatory on June 21, 2023.
Simple Analogy: A shared code of conduct among spacefaring nations rather than an enforceable contract.
The binding foundation of space law, under which the non-binding Artemis Accords operate; it bars national appropriation of celestial bodies.
The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the multilateral body for space law development and long-term sustainability of space activities.
The July 2025 NASA-ISRO joint Earth-observation mission that demonstrated the two agencies could deliver a major project together.
GS Paper III > Science and Technology > Space; GS Paper II > India and its Bilateral Relations
General Awareness > Science and Technology
General Awareness > Space and Strategic Technology
A set of non-binding principles for civil space exploration launched by the United States in 2020.
NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar — a joint Earth-observation mission launched in July 2025.
United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology — a US-India framework for strategic technology cooperation.