Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India, visited Isro headquarters on Friday and wrapped up a series of high-level conversations about expanding cooperation in a variety of areas, from lunar exploration and human spaceflight to Earth observation.
During a delegation meeting with Isro Chairman S Somanath, Garcetti suggested that Australia, Japan, the US, and India work together to develop a “QUAD satellite.”
Other noteworthy talks included possible cooperative projects such as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (Nisar) mission’s advanced imaging spectrometer satellite building, India’s proposal for a G-20 satellite devoted to climate change and environmental monitoring, and the potential use of India’s Gaganyaan cargo module for supply missions to the International Space Station.
In his discussion of prospects for space technology advancement, Somanath emphasized the possibility of US-India academic cooperation on sophisticated detectors and electronics packaging. In order to facilitate a wider use of space platforms, he emphasized the significance of standardizing docking interfaces across human spaceflight programs.
In order to enable further exploration missions, officials from the two countries also talked about combining their efforts to put a navigation architecture on the lunar surface or in orbit around the moon.At the end of the sessions, there was a consensus to deepen the US-Indian space relationship and look into new joint ventures throughout the civilian space program. Both sides’ officials were upbeat about the potential for continued cooperation.
A wide range of topics of common interest were discussed, such as joint working groups, the Artemis Accords, space economy initiatives, and the utilization of US laser reflector payloads on Chandrayaan-3.
“I’m deeply impressed by Isro’s incredible accomplishments in space exploration. The US greatly values our partnership with India’s world-class space program as we pursue new frontiers of discovery,” Garcetti said.
Garcetti and Somanath also took part in the US-India Space Cooperation Conference, which was held in the city, and advocated increased cooperation between the two nations.
Link to article –
US Ambassador Eric Garcetti visits ISRO headquarters, proposes QUAD satellite
