According to a reporter in New Delhi, on November 29, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that NASA will train an Indian astronaut to participate in a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) early next year.
An image mosaic of the International Space Station taken by the Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2021. (Photo: NASA).
This announcement comes amid increasingly deepening relations between the United States and India in the field of space exploration.
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka in southern India, Nelson suggested that the two countries have opportunities to collaborate in the field of science. On November 30, Nelson is expected to inspect the joint satellite of the two countries called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). This low Earth orbit observation system is being developed jointly by NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). The satellite is expected to be launched from India in the first quarter of 2024.
India aims to increase its share of the global satellite launch market fivefold over the next decade and agreed to join NASA’s Artemis Agreement in June of this year.
