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On 15 July, the Indian space programme will achieve a feat with the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Two challenges lie ahead: the speedy construction of Chandrayaan-3 and the development of a public-private ecosystem of space capabilities
Courtesy: IEEE Spectrum
The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA), the last of the India-U.S. foundational agreements, will enable India to avail of U.S. expertise on geospatial intelligence and to sharpen the accuracy of weapons and automated hardware systems used for military purposes. But the over-emphasis on imaging in the agreement overlooks the likelihood of a clash between the telecom and meteorological technologies, which can hurt India’s crucial capabilities in space-based weather forecasting and disaster management
Courtesy: NASA
The NASA InSight mission has demonstrated that cube satellites can, after all, endure interplanetary travel. Such miniaturisation of technology looks set to disrupt the obsolete 20th century approach to space exploration. It will give rise to an interplanetary telecom industry, which is indispensable for the support of human presence on Mars
Courtesy: Swarajya
A grand achievement is a series of smaller, well-defined, and precise accomplishments. If the vision of putting an Indian on the moon has to materialise, it should be preceded by several smaller projects and diverse institutions meeting definite targets. What would these targets be? Where does India’s scientific community stand in meeting them as of this day? What kind, and how much, additional capacity needs to be added to the Indian science sector to put an Indian on the moon?
Courtesy: Wikipedia
India’s human spaceflight programme calls for a strong symbiosis between the country’s private sector, defence, and civilian agencies. The focus should be on indigenous development to preserve strategic autonomy
Courtesy: Global Environment Facility
Since Independence, India has been consumed by its domestic priorities. Now, with increasing integration with the world and a huge stake in global stability, it is time to focus on the global commons. India has a seat on the hightable to design and shape the rules for the governance of the global commons. In this special Independence Day Briefing, Gateway House examines India’s engagement with four global commons – technology, outer space, cyber and the oceans – and makes recommendations on how best they can be governed for our collective future.
Courtesy: NASA/SAIC/Pat Rawlings
Ownership of lunar artifacts – objects left behind by space missions – will become a vexing issue as the international footprint on the Moon grows. Such archaeological objects may be designated ‘national heritage’, but the site on which they exist ought to remain ‘a global common’, and not become a point of territorial contestation. The Moon needs to be managed by global consensus, prudence and realism.
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The two countries’ proposal to carry out a robotic sample-return mission to the Moon in the 2020s is a laudable attempt at catching up with Beijing’s rather more advanced lunar agenda. And there are many lessons that Japan can offer India
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India is missing from the new wave of industrialisation that the space powers – both well-established and new – are ushering in. New Delhi must use the Indian Space Research Organisation smartly to create a competitive industrial base of avant-garde technologies, not regard it a mere revenue generator
Courtesy: Pixabay
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) recently announced intention to visit the planet Venus – the third celestial destination for India after the Moon and Mars – is a significant academic pursuit. But can New Delhi use this opportunity to develop cutting-edge trans-disciplinary technologies and advance its space diplomacy?