How do you see the future of Indian-US cooperation in the arena of space?
We had the Isro chairman visiting Nasa acouple of weeks ago and we had the India-US civil space dialogue. One of the announcements from that meeting was a commitment to host Gaganyaan astronauts at Nasa for advanced training. This is the first step in what is hoped to be a long-term association related to human space flight. We need to be able to work together to live together in space.
Is the current geopolitical environment with regard to Russia and China impacting international space cooperation?
It is really important to remember that we still operate the International Space Centre with our European, Japanese and Russian partners. We should never forget that space is a place where we are able to cooperate regardless of other challenges. Upholding that ideal remains more valuable now than ever.
What are your thoughts on the arming of space and the challenges?
The challenge with any conflict in space is that at a practical level it has the potential to threaten the life of an astronaut. If there is space debris in lower orbit, that can threaten an astronaut from any country. A future Gaganyaan astronaut who would be in lower earth orbit could be threatened by debris generated through any conflict in space.
Beyond Gaganyaan, what can India and the US do together in space?
Space has been highlighted as a very significant area of collaboration between India and the US as part of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). From Nasa’s side, the hosting of Gaganyaan astronauts is one area. Another area is bringing together US and Indian companies to discuss potential areas of collaboration and supply chain integration related to our commercial lunar payload services activity. That is our programme to purchase services from US commercial companies to deliver payloads to the moon.