Q. 494: SPACE TECHNOLOGY WITH INDO-US-CO-OPERATION

Will the Minister of SPACE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether any discussion were recently held between India and the United States for cooperation in field of space technology and commerce under the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP);

(b) if so, the details and the outcome thereof;

(c) whether any proposals for Launch Service Agreement (LSA) and Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) came up in the discussions; and

(d) if so, the present status of the said proposals?
ANSWER: MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND IN PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE(SHRI V.NARAYANASAMY):

(a) Yes, Sir.

(b) The third meeting of India-USA Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation (JWG - CSC) was held at Bangalore during July 13-14, 2011. Both the sides shared on their activities and plans mainly on Earth Observation, Satellite Navigation and Space Exploration. The JWG-CSC agreed to jointly explore the cooperation possibilities through exchange of scientific personnel, organising workshops, utilisation of meteorological data from Indian satellites, exchange of data on space debris, etc.

(c) & (d) Government of the Republic of India and Government of the United States of America signed a Technology Safeguard Agreement (TSA) at New Delhi on July 20, 2009. This will enable US to grant export licences for the US satellites and for other countries’ satellites containing US components, meant for civil and non commercial purpose for launch from India.

During the third meeting of Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation (JWG-CSC), India and USA exchanged their current position with respect to Commercial Space Launch Agreement (CSLA) and agreed to continue the discussion.

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