Isro, Australian space agency sign cooperation pact for human space flight

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday said it has signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with Australian Space Agency (ASA) for further strengthening of cooperation in space activities between the two countries.

The IA enables cooperation between both space agencies on crew and crew module recovery for Gaganyaan missions, the country's first crewed spaceflight program, it said.

The IA was signed by D K Singh, Director, Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) on ISRO's side at Bengaluru and Jarrod Powell, General Manager, Space Capability Branch, on ASA's side at Canberra on November 20, the space agency said in a statement.

ISRO has embarked on the Human Spaceflight ("Gaganyaan") programme with an objective of demonstrating capability to carryout Low Earth Orbit in an Indian Crew Module with up to three crew members onboard, for up to three days and to safely recover the module.

The IA enables the Australian authorities to work with Indian authorities to ensure support for search and rescue of crew and recovery of crew module as part of a contingency plan for ascent phase that aborts near Australian waters, ISRO said.

India and Australia are enduring strategic partners and both space agencies are working closely and are committed to explore current and future collaboration activities, it said.