Now with the ‘congratulations and celebrations’ part of India’s Prime Minister’s United States (US) visit is (21-24 Jun 2023) getting over, it is time to introspect about what India has majorly gained during this visit. This article restricts itself to the domain of Space and tries to understand the nature of gains and the policy changes, which India has made. Two important subjects were on the table during this visit: Indian signing Artemis Accords and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) an independent agency of the US government responsible for the civil space program, helping India to carry an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS). The article focuses on Artemis Accords.
Artemis Accords represents NASA’s articulation about how the world should approach technological and policy issues for planning and executing missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The project is putting technologies together for undertaking robotic and human missions to other planets, beginning with the Moon. The Accords have established groups with a common vision by identifying a set of principles, guidelines, and best practices for undertaking civilian space activities. The ‘catch’ is that a state must first sign this set of principles, which has thirteen sections. Subsequently, based on their interests, states would be required to sign separate contracts for every mission. During the Jun 2023 visit by India’s PM to the US, India became the 27th country in the world to join Artemis Accords. In short, India has accepted NASA’s decrees about how to operate in space. It needs to be mentioned that these are nonbinding rules. As things stand, the US has been very aggressively pushing for its Artemis Accords agenda since its conceptualisation in October 2020. They started with eight countries and now nineteen more have joined in less than two years. The US was very keen for India to join this accord since now it carries much of a weight globally with a joining of an independently thinking and respected space power.
Joining these accords is an interesting shift in India’s ‘space view’. For all these years India took a stand in favour of legally-binding processes in international negotiations on aspects of space policy and space security. India’s focus has been towards developing sustainable space technologies. Almost a decade ago, there were intense discussions globally, to evolve a non-binding international space code of conduct. This was a European-supported idea, and four drafts were discussed however, important space actors in the world never took any proactive stand in this regard. Broadly, the Indian argument then was, ‘since it is not a legally binding mechanism and more so, states like India were not on the high table for initial discussions’, it may not be in India’s interest to join such a mechanism. Mostly, India believed the principles to guide space exploration and setting of any rules, norms and governing ideologies should be formulated at the level of the United Nations (UN) after detailed discussion. But now India has signed on the dotted line on what NASA has conceptualised!
India has its own Moon and Mars program. India successfully undertook its first mission to the Moon in 2008/09. Now in July 2023, India would be launching its third mission to the Moon. India’s first mission to Mars was also successful (2013/14). There have already been some NASA connections with India’s both Moon and Mars programs. Now after joining Artemis, there could be some new learnings for India. India needs to be careful on two accounts. One, Artemis’ position on the management of space resources and the creation of ‘safety zones’ on planetary surfaces demands much reading between the lines. Would this eventually lead to space uni lateralization? At present, the US, India, and a few other states have a policy to allow private companies to undertake asteroid and planetary mining and take commercial advantage of such missions. Such ideas are good for boosting the space industry. However, there is a need to think strategically over here. The idea could be far-fetched but still needs to be mentioned, if we do not have a mechanism with proper checks and balances at this moment, then after some decades, the time could come when the asteroid/planets would be owned by private companies. India needs to push for the requirement of a UN treaty mechanism on space mining.
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Two, there are some dichotomies about the positions of Artemis’ signatory states. Australia is a signatory to the Moon Agreement, which views Moon and its resources as Common Heritage to Mankind (CHM). It is also important for the signatory states to understand that they would be required to honour the US government’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which has been a deal breaker on various occasions in the past. China and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding in Sept 2022 for the Rashid II rover to fly on the lander of the multi-spacecraft Chang’e-7 mission. However, it appears that ITAR would be an issue. In the past, India’s missions to the Moon and Mars have carried sensors from a few states. It appears that, now India can collaborate only with the friends of the US for such missions.
Even during the ongoing Ukraine crisis, India has been able to maintain the balance between Russia and the US & NATO. Hence, it would not be correct to perceive that by joining Artemis, India would lose its space autonomy. India is embracing the US for various geopolitical and geoeconomic reasons and signing Artemis could be one part of that larger game. At the same time, India understands that space is too important a domain to be used for ‘earthly’ gains. Years of experience show that India knows how to play geopolitical games to its advantage. It is expected that India would continue to remain a partner of the US in the domain of space and not an ally.
