NEW DELHI, September 23. Taking forward the quadrilateral arrangement, the I2U2 group on Friday announced a new joint space venture. The plan envisages using primarily the space-based observation data and capabilities of the four partner countries.
The group members, India, United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States announced this on Friday on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, the US Department of State said in a release.
The project’s aim is to create a unique space-based tool for policy makers, institutions and entrepreneurs, so as to enable their work in areas of environment and climate change challenges.
Idea behind the project is to further cooperation among the member-countries in the application of space data for “greater good of humanity”. The four countries are signatories to the Artemis Accords, an outer-space treaty. The Accords is a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the United States government and other governments.
India joined the Accords during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States in June this year. It is an international partnership of 27 countries for exploration of planets and research.
One of the objectives of the Artemis programme is to return astronauts to the moon and also build a space camp on its surface in order to carry out space exploration.
