Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with the Australian Space Agency (ASA) for further strengthening of cooperation in space activities between the two countries. This agreement will help to boost coordination between space agencies on crew and crew module recovery for the “Gangayaan” mission, which will be India’s first crewed spaceflight program.
The agreement was signed on November 20 by D.K. Singh, the Director of the Human Space Flight Centre(HSFC) on ISRO’s side, and Jarrod Powell, General Manager of the Space Capability Branch on ASA’s side.
ISRO has launched the Human Spaceflight (“Gangayaan”) program with the objective of demonstrating the capability to carry out Low Earth Orbit in an Indian Crew model with up to three crew members onboard for up to three days to safely recover the module.
ISRO, in a statement, said that The IA will enable the Australian authorities to work with Indian authorities, ensuring support for the search and rescue of crew and recovery of crew module as part of a contingency plan for the ascent phase that aborts near Australian waters. It added that India and Australia will become strategic partners, and both space agencies will work closely and are committed to exploring current and future collaboration activities, it said.
