FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

China-India Joint Committee To Meet on Space Cooperation

March 12, 2019 (EIRNS)—China and India have an opportunity coming up to make a breakthrough in the strategic area of space cooperation, when the second meeting of the Sino-India Joint Committee on Space Cooperation convenes this year. The Committee was established in 2015, and at the first meeting in Beijing, an outline for cooperation was signed. Although it included 19 potential joint projects, they are all still at only the “dialogue” stage.

Also in 2015, then-China National Space Administration head Xu Dazhe wrote a letter to the heads of all the world’s space agencies, inviting them to participate in the Chang’e-4 lunar mission. The Hindustan Times reports that China received applications from India for potential payloads for the mission, but “due to the different nature of the missions of the two sides, the Indian payload on Chang’e-4 could not be carried through [after] the evaluation.” Although CNSA confirmed the story, it said nothing further.

As the Hindustan Times observes: “It could have been a breakthrough stride for Sino-India cooperation in space.”

Both nations are planning future lunar missions, presenting new opportunities for these two space powers to work together.