Suspicion Gives Way To TRUST: India-US Joint Space Missions Take Flight

An Indian astronaut - or a Gaganyatri - will soon travel to the International Space Station (ISS), and a groundbreaking India-US earth-imaging satellite will be launched on an Indian rocket. In the recent summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House, even long-duration human space missions received a big boost.

Just a few years ago, Washington blocked Moscow from transferring critical cryogenic engine technology to India, fearing its potential use in long-range missile development. Today, those misgivings have given way to trust, paving the way for deeper collaboration in space exploration.

At their meeting, PM Modi and President Trump announced the launch of the India-US TRUST or the 'Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology' initiative. This initiative aims to enhance collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector in key emerging technologies, including defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space. It also seeks to ensure the use of verified technology vendors and protect sensitive technologies.

Both PM Modi and President Trump share a keen interest in space technology. The two leaders hailed 2025 as a landmark year for US-India civil space cooperation, with NASA and ISRO working through private space firm Axiom to send the first Indian astronaut to the ISS. If all goes as planned, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will become only the second Indian to travel to space - four decades after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's historic mission in 1984. Captain Shukla will pilot Axiom 4 (Ax-4), a private space mission set to launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this year. However, there are indications of a possible delay due to the rescheduling of a so-called "rescue mission" for astronaut Sunita Williams.

The two leaders also endorsed the early launch of the joint NISAR mission, an advanced satellite designed to systematically map changes to the Earth's surface using dual radars. Often referred to as the "NISARga" satellite (a play on the Sanskrit word for nature), the mission is aimed at disaster monitoring and environmental protection.

NISAR represents a true jugalbandi - or collaboration - between the world's oldest and largest democracies. Officially known as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite (NISAR), it is estimated to be the most expensive civilian Earth-imaging satellite ever built, costing over $1 billion. NASA has stated that the total mission cost, including development and deployment, could exceed $1.5 billion.

In the coming months, ISRO its 'Naughty Boy' - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2 (GSLV Mk 2) - now tamed and ready - to launch NISAR from Sriharikota. This will mark the first time a US government satellite is launched from an Indian spaceport, a strong signal of NASA's confidence in ISRO's capabilities.

At the meeting, PM Modi and President Trump called for deeper collaboration in space exploration, including long-duration human spaceflight, spaceflight safety, planetary protection, and commercial partnerships. The leaders committed to further commercial space collaboration through industry engagements in conventional and emerging areas, such as connectivity, advanced spaceflight, satellite and space launch systems, space sustainability, space tourism and advanced space manufacturing.

On the sidelines of his visit, PM Modi also met SpaceX founder Elon Musk, a strong advocate of human settlement on Mars. Could this meeting plant the seeds for an Indian mission to the Red Planet? With the TRUST initiative now propelling Indo-US space cooperation, the possibilities for planetary exploration are expanding rapidly.