India and the United States will hold the next meeting of the Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) in Bengaluru during the first week of August, bringing together experts from both countries to strengthen cooperation in the space sector.

US Consulate General Public Diplomacy Officer Eric Atkins said the upcoming meeting follows the previous CSJWG session held in February 2025, which coincided with discussions involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.

Formed in 2005, the CSJWG serves as a platform for collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NASA and other government agencies from both nations. India and the US have strengthened their space collaboration through projects such as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission and the recent Axiom-4 flight, which included India's Gaganyatri Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.

During her visit to Bengaluru, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist and AstroNav project manager Swati Mohan outlined the progress of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission. She said the rover has continued operating well beyond its planned three-year mission and has successfully gathered samples aimed at studying signs of ancient life on Mars.

Mohan added that 33 samples collected from the Cheyava Falls region have revealed evidence that could indicate past life on the Red Planet. She also noted that NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has completed more than 70 flights on Mars since 2021.