NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to visit India next week to discuss space cooperation

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will visit India next week to bolster bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in the space sector.

According to an official release by NASA, Nelson will be on a two-nation tour starting November 27 and will attend meetings with key government officials in India as well as the UAE.

In India, Nelson will visit several locations managed by ISRO as well as the Bengaluru-based facility where the NASA-ISRO satellite NISAR is undergoing testing and integration.

Short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR is scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2024 and is designed to measure changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides. All this information will be used to guide efforts related to climate change, hazard mitigation, agriculture and more.

"Nelson also will meet with space officials in both countries to deepen bilateral cooperation across a broad range of innovation and research-related areas, especially in human exploration and Earth science," NASA said in an official statement.

"The visit to India fulfills a commitment through the United States and India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology spearheaded by President Joe Biden," it further said.

Prior to Nelson's visit, Laurie Leshin, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) also visited ISRO's facility in Bengaluru on November 23 to monitor the satellite development.

Apart from the NISAR satellite, the US and Indian space agencies have also agreed on sending an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS). 

The agreement was made in June earlier this year when PM Narendra Modi was on his 3-day state visit to the US. India also signed the Artemis Accords, built upon the foundation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, during his state visit.