ISRO, Australian Space Agency Strengthen Ties for Gaganyaan Mission

Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) has signed an Implementation Agreement(IA) with the Australian Space Agency(ASA) as part of its efforts to strengthen space exploration cooperation. As part of the deal, it specifically deals with supporting the crew module recovery and crew for ISRO's Gaganyaan, which is India's first crewed space venture.

The Implementation Agreement was inked in a virtual ceremony, with D K Singh, Director of ISRO's Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) in Bengaluru, and Jarrod Powell, General Manager of the Space Capability Branch at ASA in Canberra. This kind of partnership will be crucial in support of the recovery of the crew as well as the crew module, especially in contingency situations where the spacecraft has to abort its ascent phase near the waters off Australia.

The Gaganyaan mission is one of the key projects for India that will send astronauts up to three in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a duration of up to three days. Not only will this mission showcase India's capability for conducting crewed spaceflights, it will also ensure the safe return of the crew module after the mission.

In both ISRO and ASA, a jointly valued commitment to deepen and explore future opportunities in bilateral space cooperation has been clearly accentuated, furtherifying the strong strategic partnership between India and Australia.