International cooperation key to future spaceflight: Sunita Williams

By R Anil Kumar

Bengaluru, Sep 9, 2026. Renowned astronaut Sunita Williams on September 9, said greater international cooperation is needed for future human spaceflight, and that humanity would return to the Moon and go farther into space “as human beings, not as one country.”

She was speaking during an interaction on ‘The Next Chapter of Space: A Conversation on Exploration, Science and Innovation’ at the ninth edition of the Bengaluru Space Expo here.

Williams said countries could benefit from each other’s approaches to solving problems as they prepared for increasingly ambitious exploration missions.

Responding to a question on international cooperation in human spaceflight, she said, “International cooperation is wonderful because we see how other cultures think and solve problems. We get to compare modules, spacesuits, and experiments.”

She said that as “we go back to the Moon and further, we are going as human beings, not as one country. We need all those thought processes to solve new problems.”

Williams said future space stations would need to become more self-reliant as humans travelled farther from Earth.

“On Earth, you can pull out your phone and find the answer to any question. On the ISS, we don’t have that database. We rely on communication with the ground. For future stations, especially as we go farther with communication delays, we need that database onboard to troubleshoot things,” she said.

She highlighted the need for reliable 3D printing and the ability to analyse experimental data and samples in space instead of sending them back to Earth.

Tom Shelley, Vice President, Crew Partnerships, VAST Space, said the US company, which is five years old, was building what would become the first commercial space station, Haven-1, scheduled to launch next year.

“We are trying to develop as quickly and safely as possible, and at a more sustainable cost. The ISS took a huge investment from many countries. We want to show it can be done quicker and more efficiently to provide a platform for governments, private individuals, and private companies to do important scientific research,” he said.

On implementing new ideas on the International Space Station, Williams said future commercial stations such as those being developed by VAST could allow things to move faster.

“That is one thing I like about future commercial stations like VAST. We can do things quicker. On the ISS, we have bureaucracy because we want to be safe and reliable, and the station is very busy,” she said.

Group Captain Angad Pratap, one of the astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan Mission, said India still needed critical technologies for the BharatiyaAntariksh Station, including regenerative life-support systems, a functional Extravehicular activity spacesuit and docking capability.

BAS will offer a platform for microgravity research and scientific studies in fields such as life sciences and medicine.

“We are at a stage where we cannot do things one by one. We have to think about the transportation vehicle, the space station, and the lunar mission all at once. It is telescopic,” he said.

On Gaganyaan, Pratap said the programme was about acquiring the capability to launch humans into space domestically from India.

“Gaganyaan may sound like just sending one person for one orbit, but it lays the foundation for much bigger things. The ultimate aim is to push the boundaries of human knowledge. Technology will be shared between the private sector and government sector,” he said.

On the role of robotics and AI, Williams said humans, technology and robotics needed to work together.

“Robots are the first line of defence-they look for the landing spot. But they are only programmed with what we know now. You need humans on site to make decisions,” she said.

Williams, who has spent more than 600 days in space, said her experience of seeing Earth from space reinforced the idea that humanity shared one home.

“I looked out the window and thought, the teachers are right, it is round. It is not flat,” she said.

“My thought was, everyone I know, every plant, every animal is right there. That is our home, and we need to protect it. It didn’t cross my mind that I was American, or that my dad is from India and my mother from Slovenia. We are all on one planet, and it seems weird that we have differences,” Williams said.

Williams has retired from the space agency, capping a stellar 27-year career during which she completed three missions aboard the International Space Station and set various human spaceflight records.

She has spent 608 days in space, the second-highest cumulative time among NASA astronauts.

‘India is Ready’: Sunita Williams on Future Space Stations, Astronaut Autonomy & the Next Giant Leap

Sunita Williams says India is ready to build future space stations and take on new human spaceflight challenges. At the Space Expo in Bengaluru, she outlined why missions farther from Earth will need reliable 3D printing, onboard knowledge systems and the ability to analyse experiments without waiting for help from the ground

Sunita Williams says India is ready to build future space stations, speaking at the Space Expo in Bengaluru. Drawing on three missions, she calls for technology that helps astronauts solve problems with less support from Earth.

When something breaks on Earth, help can be a phone search away. In space, even finding the answer can depend on a conversation with the ground. Sunita Williams says the next generation of spacecraft must give astronauts more tools to solve problems themselves.

Williams said India was “ready for the challenge” of building future space stations. But as human missions travel farther from Earth, she stressed, spacecraft will need greater autonomy, new technologies and sustained international cooperation.

The lessons come from three missions spanning space station construction, scientific research and flying a new spacecraft.

“It’s no easy feat, and I know India is ready for the challenge as well,” she said, referring to the work of building space stations alongside efforts by commercial companies around the world.

Why astronauts need answers onboard

At the session, “The Next Chapter of Space: A Conversation on Exploration, Science and Innovation”, Williams described a limitation that people on Earth might find surprising: astronauts cannot look up answers as easily as someone reaching for a phone.

On the International Space Station (ISS), she said, crews rely on good communications with ground teams to answer questions and troubleshoot problems. Future stations could benefit from onboard databases that put technical knowledge within immediate reach.

“If we could have a database of that, we could be a little less reliant on the folks on the ground,” Williams said.

That independence becomes more important as missions move deeper into space and communication delays grow. Astronauts trying to repair equipment or decide their next step will need access to information without waiting for instructions from Earth.

Even a printer can be a problem in space

Williams identified reliable 3D printing as another priority, pointing out that even printing on paper can be troublesome in microgravity.

“Yes, we wrestle with the printer in space because it relies on gravity,” she said. Her broader point was that equipment designed for Earth cannot simply be expected to work the same way in orbit. Engineers need to rethink how machines operate when gravity is no longer available to help them function.

For future space stations, that means designing such capabilities into the infrastructure from the beginning.

Williams said her more recent experience reinforced the need for crews to analyse scientific experiments and medical tests onboard.

Too often, she explained, astronauts have to transmit data to the ground or send samples back to Earth for analysis. Future missions will need machines capable of doing more of that work in space.

“We need to be able to do that ourselves, autonomously, if we are going to take those next steps,” she said.

The requirement extends from medical testing to interpreting experimental results. Onboard knowledge systems and analytical equipment would reduce dependence on both ground teams and the ability to return material to Earth.

What can new space stations do differently?

Williams said commercial and government-led space stations offer a chance to incorporate lessons from the ISS into entirely new designs.

She pointed to commercial space station company Vast while discussing the potential to introduce ideas more quickly, while preserving safety and reliability.

The ISS, she said, has demanding schedules and established processes that can make changes difficult. Parts of the station have been operating for more than 25 years, and decisions about further investment must also consider its eventual retirement.

New stations offer an opportunity to build capabilities into their foundations. Williams said some investments in the ISS could still be worthwhile if they advance broader exploration goals, including the development of a Moon base.

Three missions, lessons still unfolding

Reflecting on her career, Williams said her first mission centred on constructing the ISS with international partners. Her second included travelling with Russian partners and conducting experiments. Her most recent mission involved flying a new spacecraft.

“Sometimes those things come with a couple of hiccups, but the good side of those hiccups is you get to do amazing science and maybe some more spacewalks in the process,” she said.

Some of that science takes years to produce practical results.

Williams cited capillary-flow research from her first flight, which could help shape future systems for transferring fluids in space. On her most recent mission, she saw mathematical models from that earlier work applied to feeding plants hydroponically and delivering nutrients.

Those findings could eventually support plant-growing systems on future space stations or a Moon base.

Her research experience also included stem cells, DNA sequencing, materials science and experiments examining how the human body responds to extended periods in space.

For Williams, those decades of work provide a foundation for the next phase of exploration.

“I’m super excited for future spaceflight, because we have learned so much over the last couple of decades,” she said, describing that knowledge as a springboard for modern space stations and transportation systems that India, other countries and private companies are preparing to develop.

Williams is tied for sixth among American astronauts for the longest single spaceflight, having spent 286 days in space alongside astronaut Butch Wilmore during the Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions, NASA had said.