NASA Invites ISRO to Join Moon Base Programme, Building on Chandrayaan-3's South Pole Landing

New Delhi: NASA has formally reaffirmed its invitation to ISRO to join its Moon Base programme, deepening the India-US space partnership as both agencies look toward establishing a permanent human outpost near the lunar South Pole.

The programme aims to support long-duration stays on the Moon by tapping into water ice believed to be locked inside permanently shadowed craters near the poles — ice that could be broken down to provide drinking water, oxygen and hydrogen fuel, sharply cutting the cost of sustaining a base compared with hauling every litre of water from Earth.

India's Chandrayaan-3 mission made history in August 2023 by becoming the first spacecraft from any country to land near the lunar South Pole, a technically difficult region that has since become the focus of major lunar exploration efforts worldwide.

ISRO is separately advancing its own planetary exploration roadmap, including the multi-module Chandrayaan-4 sample-return mission and the Shukrayaan-1 mission to Venus, as it continues to build toward crewed lunar ambitions under its broader space programme.