India's Moon race: Now about staying

For centuries, the Moon belonged to poets, priests and astronomers. In the 20th century, it became a Cold War destination: In 1969, the United States planted a flag on its surface. But after Apollo 17 in 1972, the moonwalks stopped. Earlier this year, humans did finally return to the lunar vicinity, but only to make a flyby.

 

India, meanwhile, was quietly changing what we knew about our celestial neighbour. Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, found evidence of water ice in the Moon’s permanently shadowed polar regions. Fifteen years later, Chandrayaan-3 landed near the south pole, making India the first country to achieve a soft landing in the unforgiving region.

 

But the next lunar race isn’t really about getting there; it’s about staying.

 

India’s growing lunar credentials mean it is no longer just watching that race. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to join its Moon Base programme. The invitation was made at the ninth India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting in Bengaluru on August 5-6.

 

Details are still unclear: Nasa has not specified what Isro might build or fund, and India has not publicly committed to a particular part of the architecture.

 

Furthermore, this is a significant invitation, but not yet a contract.

 

The lunar south pole’s appeal lies in its darkness. Some craters never see sunlight and have remained extremely cold for billions of years, creating conditions that can preserve water ice. That water could one day provide drinking water and oxygen for astronauts or, after being split into hydrogen and oxygen, potentially become rocket fuel. That changes what the Moon could mean: Not just a scientific outpost, but a laboratory, a resource depot and a springboard further into space.

 

Visiting the Moon and staying there are very different problems. A short mission carries most of what it needs. But a base has to produce or recycle what its inhabitants need, keep power and communications running, and rely on robots and life-support systems that can operate for years. There is no breathable atmosphere, radiation is a major hazard, temperatures are extreme, and abrasive dust can damage machinery. Near the south pole, deep craters, steep slopes and long periods of darkness make such a mission tougher still.

 

That’s why the invitation matters. Chandrayaan-3 showed that India could land safely in the region. Chandrayaan-4 is designed to collect and return lunar samples, while the Lunar Polar Exploration, also called Chandrayaan-5, in a partnership with Japan, is focused on exploring the polar environment and resources. A bigger role in Nasa’s programme could give these efforts a wider stage, allowing Indian scientists and engineers to work on the robotics, navigation, power and resource systems a permanent outpost would require.

 

India’s human-spaceflight programme feeds into this. Gaganyaan is to demonstrate crewed spaceflight in low Earth orbit. Then comes the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, with the first module targeted for 2028 and the station planned to be established by 2035. India has also set a goal of sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.

 

The antariksh station is where India will learn to keep people alive far from home, managing docking, life support and emergencies. The Moon will demand those skills with even less room for error. Nasa’s experience could shorten that learning curve.

 

There’s money to be made, too. A lunar economy will need sensors, robotics, communications equipment, and specialised materials. India’s growing private space sector could plug into that supply chain.

 

But New Delhi should avoid settling for being just a supplier. The goal should be building capability, not simply becoming a subcontractor.

 

That’s where China’s progress is impossible to ignore. Chang’e-4 achieved the first landing on the Moon’s far side in 2019. Chang’e-5 returned lunar samples in 2020, and Chang’e-6 brought back the first samples ever collected from the far side in 2024. China has also maintained a continuously crewed space station, Tiangong, since 2022, giving it years of long-duration spaceflight experience that India is still building towards. Beijing plans crewed lunar landings before 2030 and is developing its own International Lunar Research Station. Chang’e-7 is aimed at studying the lunar south pole, including its water-ice resources.

 

The real story isn’t China’s individual milestones but the chain connecting them: Robotic exploration, sample return, human spaceflight, a space station, and now plans for a lunar base. India is assembling a similar chain, just earlier in the process. The Nasa invitation could help it move faster without having to build every piece alone.

 

There is a geopolitical dimension, too. The Moon probably won’t become a battlefield, but whoever builds its early infrastructure will have a say in the standards and practices that shape what follows. The US is building one ecosystem through Artemis; China another. India has joined the Artemis Accords while pursuing its own programme, giving it room to manoeuvre. It doesn’t need to beat China to the Moon or become dependent on the Americans. It needs enough capability and leverage to matter.

 

Chandrayaan-1 found evidence of water. Chandrayaan-3 showed India could land near the south pole. Gaganyaan is teaching India to send people into space; the space station will teach it to keep them there. A lunar base could be the next logical step.

 

For India, the real opportunity isn’t simply reaching the Moon again; it’s helping shape what happens after everyone gets there.

 

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