From Wiki
View attachment 211588
looks like one of the things that we "caved in".
@Indx TechStyle Any opinion on this?
Anything led by Americans will only benefit Americans. What do you think happened to both European & Japanese Human Spaceflight programmes?? Just google about them, you will know.
Do you thinks Americans will allow others to travel on Non-American spacecraft ??
Don't forget that Gaganyaan is still in the womb, I won't be surprised if Americans try to sabotage it.
ISRO already has considerably high engagement with NASA & ESA in operation of our own systems and this was coming (and they might be hoping for some tech like interkosmos program with USSR?). We use their networks, equipments and even researches all the time that it is easy for them to ask us for anything.
As far Indian space station is concerned which is at least a decade away, decaying ISS is only a good thing for experience (provided Gaganyaan is executed first independently as planned).
European and Japanese programs were also related to their budgets and projected national statures than some US conspiracy. They chose to be with US as they knew they won't be able sustain human spaceflight programs for long even after attaining same. So, India certainly won't go their way either.
Not signing it doesn't make any positive difference either since India anyway doesn't have any infrastructure to compete with NASA & CNSA for next 20 years. We are even short of our own satellite requirement and required yearly launch frequency and commericalisation would only help. India will take 2 decades to build a Mir like space station and with this, we could be a partner in building another one after ISS. Leave alone that, rendezvous docking experience by delivering cargo will be a huge learning curve for ISRO.
I hope that GoI might have considered protecting India's private space vendors though.
Artemis accords are not a threat to Gaganyaan. But they are a threat to India's private space companies for sure. It is also directly joining western camp in space where NASA/ESA/ISRO divide the work of human spaceflight, interplanetary missions, satellite launch and space station replenishments etc. tasks between each other. It must be a welcome thing overall for India since ISRO is a space agency with full launch capabilities and has 90% of what it takes for human spaceflight. Threat should be for countries whose programs are in nascent stages. Indian space progress will only hasten.
