NASA chief says US ready to send India to International space station in 2024; both countries to launch NISAR sat by the first quarter of next year

NASA Administrator Mr. Bill Nelson announced that an Indian astronaut would be sent to the International Space Station with assistance from the US by the end of 2024, marking the first space flight by an Indian national since Mr. Rakesh Sharma's historic trip in 1984.

On his multi-city visit to India to enhance Indo-US space cooperation, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the selection of the astronaut would be done by ISRO, and NASA would not be a part of it. He mentioned that ISRO was working out the details of the mission. India was hailed as an excellent future partner for astronauts' space missions and a great partner for the US.

The NASA administrator mentioned that the US is ready to collaborate with India If India desires to have a commercial space station by 2040. Additionally, a joint venture between India and the US will launch the most expensive satellite, the Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), worth nearly US$ 1 billion in the first quarter of next year. The NISAR satellite will look at the Earth's surface and climate, measuring land, water, and ice mass movement changes, providing a three-dimensional model and important information about our planet.

The Nasa administrator also urged Union Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Jitendra Singh, to expedite the program related to sending India's first astronaut aboard a Nasa rocket to the International Space Station (ISS).

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.