The potential partnerships could also involve Indian commercial entities, India’s department of space said in a statement Wednesday.
Nasa administrator Bill Nelson is visiting several locations in India this week, including Bengaluru-based facilities that are testing and integrating spacecraft for a joint US-Indian Earth-observing mission scheduled for launch in 2024.
Nelson’s visit underscores Nasa’s deepening space alliance with the Indian Space Research Organization, which this year notched several accomplishments including the landing of a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole in August.
The two space agencies are planning to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station next year. In June, Nelson joined a ceremony in Washington when India signed the Artemis Accords, a US-backed initiative with more than two dozen other countries to establish principles for space exploration.
ISRO-NASA space ties deepen: NASA Chief says, US ready to send Indian to space in 2024
Blue Origin is “very keen” on considering using an Indian rocket as a crew capsule to service its proposed space station Orbital Reef in low-Earth orbit, Isro chairman S Somanath told the Times of India in June. Larsen & Toubro Ltd., an Indian manufacturer of engineering equipment, is in early discussions with Blue Origin to supply orbital launch capabilities, according to local media.
Denver-based Voyager in July announced a preliminary agreement with Isro’s commercial arm, NewSpace India Ltd., to explore using Indian rockets to launch and deploy small satellites.
Voyager in July also signed a memorandum of understanding with Isro and the Indian national space promotion and authorization center regarding the use of Gaganyaan, the space agency’s crewed spacecraft now under development, to service a proposed space station, Starlab.
Boeing is considering designing and manufacturing of a space capsule simulator for India’s human spaceflight project but hasn’t signed a contract yet, according to local media.
India’s upcoming projects include its first launch of astronauts on a crewed mission, scheduled for 2025.
To boost its lunar ambitions, the country plans to develop a next-generation launch vehicle and a new launchpad, with the goal of landing people on the moon by 2040.
Isro’s to-do list also includes establishing a space station by 2035, launching a Venus orbiter and landing on Mars.
