India signing the Artemis Accords is a historic win for space exploration

A few days after Ecuador signed the Artemis Accords, India signed as well. Not only that, the United States and India will embark on a number of space cooperation initiatives, including a visit to the International Space Station by Indian astronauts.

India is one of the world’s most advanced space powers, just behind the United States and China. Russia used to be second, behind the United States, but its status as any kind of space power has steadily deteriorated.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has grown tremendously since its humble beginnings in the 1970s. With the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) (renamed as the Launch Vehicle Mark 3)  India has its own launch industry and is therefore not dependent on foreign providers.

The ISRO has entered into the planetary science realm in a big way. In October 2008, India launched the Chandryaan-1 into orbit around the moon. The probe made numerous observations of the lunar surface before contact was lost in August 2009.

The Chandrayaan-2 was a far more ambitious lunar mission, consisting as it did an orbiter, the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan rover. Chandrayaan-2 launched in July 2019 and assumed lunar orbit a month later. The attempt to land the Vikram was unsuccessful, with the vehicle likely crashing on the lunar surface due to a software glitch. As of this writing, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is still operational, returning scientific data,

The ISRO intends to make a second lunar landing attempt with the Chandrayaan-3, scheduled to launch in July 2023.

The ISRO launched the Mars Orbiting Mission or Mangalyaan in November 2013. Mangalyaan assumed Mars orbit in September 2014. It made numerous observations of the Martian surface and atmosphere as well as the Martian moon Phobos before contact was lost in April 2022.

The ISRO is developing a crewed spacecraft called the Gaganyaan. It is designed to be launched by an HLVM3, the human-rated version of the Launch Vehicle Mark 3. Currently, the first crewed test of the Gaganyaan, carrying three Indian astronauts, is scheduled for 2025.

All in all, India’s space program is a burgeoning powerhouse that is returning value on a number of levels to that South Asia nation. But what does India gain by signing the Artemis Accords? What does NASA gain by the ISRO becoming a closer partner in the quest to return humans to the moon and eventually send them to Mars?

As Space News notes, India’s joining the Artemis Accords is just part of an expanded space cooperation regime between that country and the United States. An Indian astronaut will, in short order, visit the International Space Station. India will gain expanded access to NASA technology. Ultimately, that country will be part of the greatest adventure humankind has ever undertaken, the Artemis return to the moon program, provided that Congress doesn’t cripple or kill it for budget reasons.

Not coincidentally, India’s joining the Artemis Alliance can be seen as a slap at China, an opponent in Asia with whom the country has had armed conflicts in the past. China has its own lunar ambitions that are opposed to the principles of the Artemis Accords. Pakistan, a bitter enemy of India since independence from Great Britain, is planning to sign an agreement with China to participate in that country’s lunar base.

What does NASA get in return? Mike Gold, an executive at Red Wire, who helped originate the Artemis Accords when he was at NASA, told Space News that, “the Artemis program will benefit greatly from India’s extraordinary capacity to innovate and conduct ambitious activities in an affordable fashion.” Surely that ability will be very important for the return to the moon going forward.

The number of signatures to the Artemis Accords is still growing. The agreement is rapidly becoming the basis of human civilization expanding beyond the Earth to the moon, Mars and farther to discover the secrets of the universe and to access the abundant natural and energy resources of space for the benefit of all humankind.

The Apollo program was a narrowly focused contest that pitted two superpowers against each other for bragging rights over who would be first to put boots on the lunar soil. The Artemis program will unite most of the world in a common endeavor with the prize of a better future than the present. All of the countries that have signed the Accords and those who will sign them recognize the promise of a space-faring future.

Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other venues.