The story so far: At the ninth meeting of the India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), held in Bengaluru on August 5 and 6, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) offered a formal invitation to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to be part of its ambitious Moon Base programme under the Artemis Accords.

NASA is looking to establish an ambitious lunar outpost programme, a first of its kind in the world where humans (astronauts) will make the Moon’s south pole a home from where they will live, work and conduct scientific activities over the next decade and beyond. The U.S. space agency, along with its partners, will execute a series of crewed and uncrewed missions.