SOURCE: UNI
Australia will play a key role in India’s first Gaganyaan Mission, particularly in astronaut recovery operations. At a webinar PRISM (Perspectives on Regulatory Issues in Strategic Markets) 2.0 Unlocking Trade Potential in India-Australia Space Collaboration, jointly organized by SIA-India and SIA-Australia, India and Australia agreed to Deepen Space Partnership through Strategic Dialogue. The webinar served as a dedicated platform to address critical regulatory and market challenges, fostering an environment conducive to collaboration, innovation, and trade in the space and dual-use sectors.
Experts speaking at the event said beyond regulatory alignment, the collaboration extends to mission support, with Australia playing a key role in India’s Gaganyaan mission. Australia’s support for India’s Gaganyaan mission, particularly in astronaut recovery operations, further reinforces collaboration. Australia’s support for India’s 1st Gaganyaan mission includes providing critical tracking and recovery operations through its Cocos (Keeling) Islands ground station.
The Australian authorities are working with Indian authorities to ensure support for search and rescue of crew and recovery of crew module as part of contingency planning for ascent phase aborts near Australian waters, a release from SIA-India said here. Australia and India have cultivated a robust partnership, reinforced by strategic and economic agreements such as the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) established in 2020 and the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed in 2022.
In 2021, this collaboration extended into the space sector with the signing of a MoU between the Australian Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to enhance cooperation in civil space activities.This partnership was further strengthened at the Bengaluru Space Expo 2024, where a highlevel roundtable discussion was held in the presence of Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, and Mr. Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency.
The discussions led to SIA-India and SIA-Australia taking a proactive step to advance industry level dialogue, identifying key barriers to trade and collaboration in the India-Australia space sector while proposing actionable solutions for government agencies. Building on these deliberations, today’s webinar PRISM, a flagship initiative by SIA-India aimed at addressing trade barriers and enhancing collaboration in strategic sectors, including space and dual-use technologies was held. The initiative focussed on fostering business-to-business (B2B) partnerships, enabling crossborder innovation, and streamlining regulatory frameworks to facilitate seamless cooperation