Insider Brief:
- During Prime Minister Modi’s state visit, India signed the Artemis Accords, paving the way for joint lunar and Martian exploration.
- An Indian astronaut will soon join the International Space Station (ISS) with American support.
- Jacob Gullish, Executive Director of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), discussed India’s four to five-year phase that includes proactive efforts to open its space market.
The bilateral relationship between the US and India, strengthened by the Initiative for Critical Emerging Technologies (iCET) launched in January 2023, encompasses collaborations in cyber, AI, quantum semiconductors, and space. During Prime Minister Modi’s state visit, India signed the Artemis Accords, paving the way for joint lunar and Martian exploration. An Indian astronaut will soon join the International Space Station (ISS) with American support. Proactive policies have also attracted American investors to fund Indian startups specializing in small satellites and geospatial data analysis.
Recently, Jacob Gullish, Executive Director of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), was interviewed on the situation.
“I’ve never seen so much vibrancy, so much dynamism, so much excitement in funding and creation and innovation of products and services in the commercial space arena,” said Jacob Gullish.
Gullish noted that while the US has been developing its commercial space enterprise for almost 40 years, India is in a four or five-year phase. Despite this shorter timeline, he stressed India’s proactive efforts to open its space market, leveraging its technological prowess and dynamic startup ecosystem. He called attention to the clear push by the Indian government to utilize the power and potential of India’s commercial space sector, its technology, skills and the creativity and energy within its startup community.
“Ultimately, business is about people to people,” Gullish explained, highlighting the importance of mutual understanding in fostering successful partnerships.
