ISRO and JAXA sign collaborative agreements

The Indian and Japanese space organisations have signed a bilateral agreement on rice crop area and air quality monitoring. The agreement was signed during a virtual meeting between the two agencies.

Bengaluru: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a bilateral Implementation Arrangement (IA) for collaborative activities on rice crop area and air quality monitoring using satellite data.

A virtual bilateral meeting between the Indian and Japanese Space organisations was held on March 11. ISRO Chairman Dr K. Sivan and JAXA President Dr Hiroshi YAMAKAWA led their respective delegations.

Both sides reviewed their on-going cooperation in earth observation, lunar cooperation and satellite navigation. During the meeting, they also agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in space situational awareness and professional exchange programme.

Apart from this bilateral agreement, ISRO-JAXA has planned for a robotic moon mission "The Lunar Polar Exploration mission (LUPEX)" in 2024 - a lunar rover and lander will be sent to explore the south pole region of the Moon.