United States To Send Indian Astronaut To ISS By Year’s End

Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India, has stated that an Indian astronaut will be sent to the International Space Station by the end of the year.

“The NISAR project, a cooperative Earth-observing mission between NASA and India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is also expected to launch before the end of the year”, Garcetti continued.

Garcetti went on to say, “We are going to put an Indian astronaut into the International Space Station this year”.

“We promised when PM (Narendra) Modi came (to the US in 2023) that by the end of this year, we will do this and our mission is still on track to be able to go in space this year”, Garcetti added.

The US ambassador spoke on the sidelines of an event commemorating the United States’ 248th Independence Day.

He suggested that India and the United States coordinate research and important emerging technology so that they can more effectively use each other’s capabilities.

The envoy stated that India landed ‘Chandrayaan 3’ on the Moon last year for a quarter of the expense that the United States expended on a similar lunar mission.

“The US has some capacities that India still doesn’t have today. When the two are combined, both countries have those capacities”, Garcetti explained.

Garcetti stated that after the elections, the Indian government will be able to address remaining liability issues and go forward “arm in arm and hand in hand” in the civilian nuclear energy sector.

Two sites in India, Mithi Virdhi in Gujarat and Kovadda in Andhra Pradesh have been designated for US corporations to build nuclear reactors.

However, the firms have expressed worries about the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010, which provides for fast recompense to victims of nuclear incidents through a no-fault liability structure.

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