3 min readAug 13, 2026 06:00 AM IST First published on: Aug 13, 2026 at 06:00 AM ISTAmid the volatility of India-US relations, the one aspect of the partnership that has continued to make steady progress is space cooperation. The two space agencies, ISRO and NASA, have never worked so closely together. Now, NASA has asked ISRO to join its Moon Base programme, an ambitious project to establish a permanent research station on the Moon, where astronauts can live, work and carry out experiments for extended periods of time. Humans haven’t been to the Moon since 1972, and efforts have now begun to stage a return, this time to prepare the ground for longer stays. Unsurprisingly, the effort is being spearheaded by the US, through its Artemis programme, which aims to land humans on the Moon before 2028. The Moon Base programme is the logical follow-up. NASA realises this goal could be achieved much faster, and more efficiently, if other partner countries and private companies join the effort. ISRO, which has its own plans to land human beings on the Moon by 2040, will get valuable hands-on experience in executing complex crewed missions, and access to technologies. India has already signed up to the Artemis Accords, a US-led coalition of space-faring countries. India and the US have also agreed to develop a “strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation”.The exploration of the Moon is no longer just a scientific enterprise. Over the next few decades, the Moon could become strategically and economically very important, as countries begin to extract lunar resources. But there are potential pitfalls as well. The Artemis Accords are increasingly being seen as a US-led alliance. Two major space powers, China and Russia, are not part of it. The Accords sidestep, and seek to replace, the 1979 Moon Agreement, which seeks to develop a multilateral governance framework for use of lunar resources.AdvertisementIndia has been wary of joining such international structures. Having signed on to the Artemis Accords, however, it has made a choice. Accepting the offer to join the Moon Base programme could be the next logical step forward. But it is extremely important that ISRO does not get locked into NASA’s technology ecosystem. That would once again make ISRO vulnerable to technology denial. The cooperation on the Moon Base programme should help ISRO to achieve its own goals faster and more efficiently, and not abandon or delay them in the service of someone else’s goals.