Commercialisation Powering New Space Race, Key To Sustainable Moon Missions: Sunita Williams

Last Updated:January 20, 2026, 22:56 IST

Sunita Williams highlights the ongoing space race, rise of private sector opportunities, and the need for sustainable, Moon missions, praising ISS's role in space tech progress.

NASA astronaut (Retd.) Sunita Williams addresses a fireside chat on her journey and experiences in space, at the US Embassy, in New Delhi, Tuesday. (PTI)

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams on Tuesday said a “space race" is ongoing at present but the endeavour is to ensure humanity returns to the Moon sustainably and that it is done in a “productive and democratic way".

“Commercialisation of space is great, and what it means in the United States is there are opportunities for people to work in so many different companies. So not only rockets, not only spacecraft, but parts of space experiments, satellites, new technologies, 3D Printing, wherever anybody wants to work. It’s not unusual nowadays that we have people who…go to one company for a couple years and go to another company and then go to another company," Williams said at the American Center.

The astronaut shared a a personal message of thanks during her visit to the capital.

“I wanted to come to Delhi just to express my thanks to so many people who were praying for me and my crewmates to get back safely. It’s understated to say thank you, honestly. One of my biggest lessons is that people are good; we often forget that due to the distractions of life, religion, and politics, but we are all people and we care about each other," she said.

Wearing the trademark deep blue space overalls and sporting a pair of space-themed canvas shoes, PTI quoted the former US Navy captain sharing her experiences from the time when she had got stuck in space when an eight-day mission to the International Space Station turned out to be a challenge of a lifetime as problems cropped up on their Boeing space flight that stretched her stay in orbit to over nine months.

On the question of growing number of players in the private sector in space, Williams said: “On the space race. I mean, I think there is a space race going on. I think people have talked about that. There is… you know, we want to get back to the Moon. We want to get back to the Moon sustainably."

“We want to get back to the Moon, to sort of start the conversation about rules of engagement, and how we actually work on the Moon, how we work together with other countries on the Moon," the noted astronaut said.

“So yes, there is a race to ensure that we do this in a productive, democratic way. Just like Antarctica. I mean, it’s the same type of thing. We want to get back to the Moon so we can all be there at the same time and working together," she said.

While lauding the rise in number of private players in the space, the astronaut said: “…they can contrast and compare different technologies and different methods and different processes these companies are going through, and they can work better as they’re with their with all of their education and their experience. I think it’s awesome. I think it is great. I think there’s more opportunity in the future. I’m excited for the space station, having laid that groundwork, that foundation of technologies that we did up there as commercial companies turn some of that into production, potentially for pharmaceuticals, new tech demonstrations for new spacecraft, looking at new spacesuits. All of that is on the horizon because of this commercialisation of Space…"

She emphasised that the International Space Station (ISS) has laid the groundwork for these commercial ventures. “I’m excited for the space station having laid that foundation. As commercial companies turn some of that into production, potentially for pharmaceuticals and new tech demonstrations for spacecraft and spacesuits… all of that is on the horizon because of this commercialisation," she added.

Speaking on the growing concern over orbital clutter, Williams acknowledge that space debris has become a significant challenge over the last decade.

“We have a lot of space debris up in orbit. You can actually see Starlink satellites crossing our orbit now. This is a field that needs solutions, and it is a good business to be in for those looking to solve how we clean up space," she said.

ANI quoted her saying that ISS continues to serve as a critical “test bed" for technologies designed to manage satellites and docking systems.

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