Lift off

Lift off

Chandrayaan-2 catapults Indian space science to new heights.

In a big relief, and a proud moment for India, the country’s second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 successfully launched from Sriharikota at 2.43pm yesterday. This was a week after the first attempted launch had to be aborted due to a technical glitch just an hour before lift-off. The second time, however, the powerful GSLV-MkIII-M1 rocket lifted off smoothly and placed the 3,850kg spacecraft into the Earth orbit. It will now take a series of complex manoeuvres for the spacecraft to be inserted into the Moon orbit following which the lander – christened Vikram – will detach from the orbiter and attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface.

Should that be successful, a rover named Pragyaan is supposed to roll out of the lander and conduct experiments on the Moon’s surface. At that point, India would be catapulted into an elite club presently comprising just the US, Russia and China. Taken together, there’s no denying that Chandrayaan-2 is a far more complex mission than our first lunar project Chandrayaan-1. The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-2 are to explore the South Pole of the Moon, find more evidence of lunar water, uncover clues about the Moon’s evolution and work in the direction of converting the Moon into a test bed for deeper forays into space.

Thus, Chandrayaan-2 is expected to enhance our space capabilities manifold. In fact, it’s an important step before India attempts to launch a manned space mission in 2022. Besides, space today is much more within our reach than ever before. Thanks to improving technologies and falling costs of space missions – the Indian Space Research Organisation itself has been at the forefront of launches that are a fraction of previous expenses – space activities are set to get increasingly democratised.

And in the next phase, a host of other developing nations and private companies are expected to exploit space for commercial, strategic and security reasons. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is a good example of the private sector stepping up its space game. From space tourism to exoplanetary mineral exploration, all are on the table. In such a scenario, India needs its space prowess to be on point to bolster its growing geopolitical clout. Plus, it should also be at the forefront of formulating new rules for space. With Chandrayaan-2 India has made a strong statement about its space plans. As a next step, India too should open up space to its private sector.