India is facing one of the most significant choices in its rapidly expanding space programme after NASA formally invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to participate in its Moon Base programme, while New Delhi simultaneously positions its own space ambitions as an international platform open to partners from around the world.
The invitation was made during the ninth India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on August 5 and 6, 2026.
ISRO officially confirmed that NASA invited the Indian space agency to join its Moon Base programme, building on cooperation between the two countries under the Artemis Accords. The two sides also agreed to advance discussions on open scientific data sharing.
The meeting brought together senior officials from ISRO, NASA, the US State Department and other agencies. It followed the successful NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, mission and included discussions on expanding cooperation in science and human spaceflight technology.
But rather than publicly committing India to the American lunar base programme, New Delhi has continued promoting its own increasingly ambitious vision for space exploration.
That message became particularly clear on September 10.
Addressing the International Space Summit in Paris by video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued an invitation of his own, calling on countries around the world to participate in India’s next phase of space exploration.
“We invite France and the world to be co-travellers in India’s next space frontier,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister presented India’s space programme as one that would combine growing national capabilities with international cooperation.
Modi highlighted India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which made India the first country to achieve a soft landing near the lunar south pole, as well as the Aditya-L1 solar mission. He also reiterated India’s plans to establish the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, India’s own space station, by 2035 and send an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.
India’s approach therefore does not necessarily represent a rejection of NASA’s invitation. Instead, New Delhi appears to be keeping several paths open as it expands its role as an independent space power.
An analysis published by Australia’s Lowy Institute on September 22 described the developing situation under the striking headline, “NASA invited India to the Moon, India invited the world instead”.
The analysis argued that India’s decision is broader than simply choosing whether to participate in an American-led lunar base. New Delhi is also considering how international cooperation fits with its sovereign capabilities, commercial interests and ability to influence the rules governing future space exploration.
India and the United States already have extensive space cooperation.
Both countries are members of the Artemis Accords, while NASA and ISRO have collaborated on major scientific projects including NISAR. The August meeting also discussed future cooperation in human spaceflight technology and scientific research.
At the same time, India has spent decades developing an increasingly independent space ecosystem.
ISRO has launched more than 430 satellites belonging to 34 countries aboard Indian rockets, according to Modi, while India’s private space industry is also expanding.
India is similarly deepening space cooperation beyond Washington. France remains one of India’s oldest space partners, with cooperation stretching back nearly six decades and encompassing Earth observation, climate applications, advanced technologies and human spaceflight discussions.
Modi’s Paris address suggested that India wants this network of partnerships to expand further.
“The promise of space is infinite. Our responsibility is collective,” Modi said, calling for cooperation rather than confrontation and stressing that space should remain safe, peaceful and sustainable.
His concluding message was equally significant: countries should “explore together, innovate together and protect space together”.
For India, the emerging question may therefore be larger than whether it joins NASA in building a permanent presence on the Moon.
NASA has invited India into its lunar ambitions.
India, meanwhile, is signalling that it intends to build ambitions of its own, and is inviting the rest of the world to come along.
