NASA is resuming cooperation with India’s space agency following a brief suspension due to New Delhi’s March 27 anti-satellite test of a ground-launched missile that destroyed a space satellite, SpaceNews reported Sunday.Â
Al Condes, associate administrator for international and interagency relations at NASA, sent a letter on March 29 to K. Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, saying the U.S. was suspending its participation in the NASA-ISRO Human Space Flight Working Group.Â
“It is NASA’s view that human spaceflight is simply incompatible with the purposeful creation of orbital debris generated by anti-satellite testing,†Condes said in the letter. However, just a week after announcing the suspension, NASA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Jim Bridenstine sent a follow-up letter to Sivan saying the cooperation with ISRO would continue.Â
“Based on guidance received from the White House, I look forward to continuing these groups in the future,†he wrote.Â
Bridenstine has criticized India for the missile test. The official described the activity as a “terrible, terrible thing†that left debris that could hit and damage the International Space Station.
