The White House said Thursday that NASA and ISRO have opted to launch a cooperative trip to the International Space Station in 2024 and that India has chosen to join the Artemis Accords, which brings like-minded nations together on civil space research.
Hours before the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, a senior administration official said, “On space, we will be able to announce that India is signing the Artemis Accords, which advance a common vision for space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.”
The Artemis Accords are a non-binding collection of principles intended to direct civil space research and utilisation in the twenty-first century. They are based on the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (OST). An American-led initiative aims to send people back to the moon by 2025 with the ultimate objective of extending space travel to Mars and beyond.
According to the source, this year NASA and the ISRO will collaborate to build a strategy framework for human spaceflight. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that NASA and ISRO have also decided to launch a collaborative expedition to the International Space Station in the year 2024.
In the area of semiconductors, US businesses are collaborating with Indian businesses to create an environment that encourages supply chain diversity. Micron Technology announced an investment of more than $800 million, which when combined with further financial backing from Indian authorities would equate to a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India. This announcement was made with the cooperation of the Indian National Semiconductor Mission.
Additionally, Lamb Research, a company that makes semiconductor manufacturing equipment, will announce a training programme for 60,000 Indian engineers through its semi-verse solution in order to speed up India’s goals for developing its semiconductor workforce. US Applied Materials also announced the opening of a new semiconductor centre for commercialization and innovation in India.
According to the official, “on critical minerals and mineral security, the United States will announce its support for India joining the Mineral Security Partnership, which is led by the US State Department and strengthens the supply chain for critical minerals and makes sure that our respective markets are adequately supplied with essential critical minerals required for achieving climatic, economic, and strategic technology goals.
“On advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information science, India and the United States have first established a joint Indo-US quantum coordination mechanism that will facilitate more collaboration between our industries, academia, and government,” the official added.
Additionally, they have agreed on a new implementation plan for advanced wireless and quantum technologies. Now include Indian quantum institutions and organisations in its membership is the US Economic Development Consortium.
The two nations are collaborating on 5G and 6G technologies, as well as Open Radio Access Network (RAN) systems, in the field of modern telecommunications. Here, we’ll announce joint ventures with operators and manufacturers from both markets for open ran, field trials, and rollouts, including scale installations in both nations. For collaboration and to encourage the deployments in India, this would entail financial support from the US International Development Finance, the official added.
A new public-private cooperation forum will be led by India’s 5G and 6G as well as the US Next G alliance. The US would also warmly welcome Indian cooperation in its campaign to replace telecoms equipment supplied by unreliable suppliers, known as “rip and replace.”
“On people-to-people ties and higher education, we would like to welcome the launch of the university network with Indo US global challenges to federal Spark, new research partnerships, and exchanges in field, leveraging the enormous talent, particularly in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields in both countries and coming out of a task force chaired by the Association of American Universities and counterparts at the Indian Institute of Technologies.”