April 9 – As NASA’s Artemis II mission loops around the Moon, the journey by four astronauts from the United States and Canada is expected to rekindle India’s push to expand its space sector and pursue future lunar expeditions.
The Orion spacecraft on the mission travelled as far as 406,780 kilometres from Earth, eclipsing the distance record set during the Apollo 13 mission. The lunar flyby marked the high point of the mission, which launched on April 1, with the crew set to return to Earth on Friday.
This marks the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years and serves as a critical test run by the United States ahead of plans to land astronauts on the Moon again by 2028.
Although no Indian astronauts are on board, analysts say a successful Artemis II mission could still deliver indirect gains for India.
India is among the signatories to the Artemis Accords, a non-binding framework that outlines principles for cooperation, interoperability, and data sharing in space exploration.
“Though India is not directly involved in Artemis II, its participation in the Artemis Accords places it within the broader US-led lunar exploration ecosystem. The success of this mission therefore reinforces a framework in which India is already a stakeholder,” said Kaushik Ray, a defence and space expert.
