India signed a new agreement with Australia on Wednesday and decided to expand on space collaboration as the sector continues to grow and create jobs.
The amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Australia and India announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
India's partnership with Australia on the subject of space is underpinned by a formal Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in 2012.
Head of the Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo said the signing symbolizes the importance of the strong collaborative partnership between the Agency and ISRO, which will look to identifying new areas of cooperation in space technology, applications, education, and outreach.
As part of steps to deepen cooperation in civil space activities, the space agencies of India and Australia have been working together to position temporarily Indian tracking facilities in Australia.
According to Australia’s minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, “Discussions are already underway for Australia to host vital tracking infrastructure as part of India’s Gaganyaan missions, which will place India as the fourth country to put humans in space.”
ISRO has embarked on an ambitious plan to put an Indian in space by 2022 under Gaganyaan mission and the Morrison Government is investing more than $700 million to triple the size of Australia’s space sector by 2030 to $12 billion and create another 20,000 jobs.
