India: We Want A Man On The Moon

After successfully deploying a satellite around the Moon, it looks as if the worlds largest democracy is preparing to place one of its own citizens upon Earth's nearest neighbor.

(Moon Daily) "Sending man to moon is a very complicated mission. So, as a first step, we plan to develop an Indian spacecraft that will take astronauts across the earth and bring them back," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said delivering a lecture on 'India's Recent Space Achievements' here on Sunday. [...]

ISRO was also in the process of developing technologies for a manned moon mission and it would take more than six to seven years to develop those technologies, he said adding our effort is to achieve the milestone by the time the proposed next manned moon mission of USA and China materialise in 2020".

Even though India has yet to put a man into space (note: they are planning to send their first citizen around 2015), their belated entrance could help motivate Asia as a whole, especially if they team up with the Japanese.

Currently China is the leading space power in the region, as they have already conducted a space walk, with future plans on landing a lunar rover to explore the Moon's surface.

Only time will tell whether or not India realizes its dream among the stars--but if the nation of a billion people is successful, we may see future astronauts speaking an additional 20 plus languages (instead of just English and Chinese).

Japanese, Indian Space Alliance Is Making China Nervous?

Despite the fact that neither of these countries have launched a human into orbit, both Japan and India have successfully launched satellites around the Moon, respectively.

While China has also launched a lunar satellite (not to mention conducted a space walk), they seem to fear an alliance between the two rival nations, one that seems to benefit the US and put the Asian giant at a disadvantage.

(Asia Times) India and Japan's agreement in October to expand cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in the field of disaster management, has the raised the ire of a China fearful that the US is masterminding a powerful space alliance between its allies in the region.

All of Asia wants to see improved regional disaster management capabilities, but the growing ties between ISRO and JAXA come just as India and Japan are devising an action plan to advance security cooperation.

"China is concerned about the general effort of the US during the Bush Administration to form a Japanese-Indian alliance to contain China," said Dr Gregory Kulacki, senior analyst and China project manager at the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

One may wonder why this alliance would make China nervous since they have already created a similar alliance with Russia, as well as offered to train astronauts from other countries.

Even though China probably fears a military alliance between India and Japan, they may also be worried that an alliance between the two Asian giants could knock China from its current status the space super power in the region.

Such an alliance could also convince other space faring democracies (such as the US and most of Europe) to work together, leaving Aristocracies like Russia and China to fend for themselves in the vacuum of space.

Whether or not the US will actively partner with Japan and India has yet to be seen, but either way it looks as if America may have found a way to counter the rising space power by reaching out to China's rivals.

India Gearing Up For Human Space Flight

After seeing their Asian rival conduct a space walk, it looks as if the worlds largest democracy is laying down the necessary foundation for sending Indian astronauts beyond the sky by 2015.

(Times of India) India plans to a have a new launch pad to undertake its proposed human space flight (manned mission) programme, ISRO officials said.

A project report on the human space flight is ready and is awaiting final approval from the government, Director of Satish Dawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, M P Dathan said.

Despite being far behind both China and Japan, India is determined to establish their presence beyond the heavens, and is even willing to court the private sector in its attempts at catching up.

Hopefully India will consider extending its ambitions lunar side, as launching men and women into space may not guarantee ones status as a space power.

Good News! India And France To Militerize The Heavens

After the Chinese conducted their anti-satellite test, the world has debated about whether or not nations should develop the final frontier with weapons included or for purely scientific/economic reasons.

Even though India has previously expressed its desire that space be developed peacefully, it looks as if they, along with France (hat tip: Space Pragmatism) are seriously considered on militerizing the heavens above us.

(Financial Times) Paris, which today takes over the EU presidency, says Europe must counter threats from conventional military powers as well as terrorism. To do so it needs to add a "political and security dimension" to European space policy, according to documents sent to EU governments ahead of a meeting later this month in French Guiana, home to the European launch pad.

"In Europe, space policy has always been motivated by scientific and technical reasons. The US, Russia, China and so on are motivated by politics. Even so, Europe is the second- or third-biggest space power in the world. Using political drive as well, it would be even more powerful," said a European diplomat familiar with the plans.

(MSN India News) New Delhi: India needs to "optimise" the use of space for military applications to counter China's rapid strides in the sphere, Indian Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor said on Monday. "We need to optimise the use of space for military applications," Gen. Kapoor said at a seminar here on 'Indian Military and Space'.

"China's space programme is expanding at a exponentially rapid pace, both in its offensive and military content," Kapoor added.

While conquer the final frontier in the name of science, business and "all that good stuff" sounds noble, the reality is that every country heading into space is going to have to ship their fleets as well (or at least defend their "aerial turf"), something both India and France have now realized.

India To Enter Space Tourism Market

With the space race heating up, several countries are exploring unorthodox ways of keeping their space programs afloat in order to finance their trip to the stars.

While other nations depend upon the "generous" donations of tax paying citizens, India is looking towards space tourism to help keep its solar dreams alive.

(Hindustan Times) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) seems to be in an expansive mood, the way it proposes to take potential space tourists on short duration sojourns in low earth orbit. The Isro Chairman, G. Madhavan Nair, thought aloud on this the other day and reportedly told the media that “well-heeled tourists” — read immensely rich wannabe astronauts — could go for week-long spins on board an Isro spacecraft in eight years’ time. The idea apparently is to use the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to loft a couple of space tourists into a 400-km orbit around Earth.

By India opening up its facilities towards the private sector the government will be able to experiment with human space flight without the need to heavily tap into its public funds.

This move may also speed up India's goal of sending its own citizens into space, and (with a little luck) upon the moon as well.

Russia Partners With India For Lunar Research

It looks as if the worlds first space power has decided to team up with India in order to jointly research Earth's nearest neighbor.

(Earth Times) Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and India's Department of Space have signed a joint lunar research and exploration agreement, the Russian agency said Monday. [...]

Georgy Polishchuk, general director of Russia's Lavochkin Design Bureau, said Russia would launch an unmanned mission to the Moon, Luna-Glob, in 2010. The second mission, which will include putting a new-generation 400-kg Lunokhod unmanned rover on the Moon, will start in 2011.

'The first mission will be solely Russian, but the second will be carried out in conjunction with India,' Polishchuk said.

While the partnership between the two may look odd to some, a partnership between the two powers would greatly benefit both nations.

Russia has the experience and passion for the moon, but may be lacking cash to actually get there. India has the passion and money to orbit lunar side, but may prefer receiving some "loose mentorship" before heading off on their own.

Russia has already initiated partnerships with Europe, as well as China in its quest to regain its former glory as a space power.

Note: Isn't it ironic how Russia is spurring international space cooperation while NASA is fostering a "go it alone" approach?

India To Put Humans Into Space By 2015

After previously committing to send its own citizens to orbit above the heavens, India has finally laid out a date for when it will join the space power club.

(MSNBC) India plans a manned space mission by 2015, using indigenous systems and technology, a top scientist said Thursday. [...]

"We are trying to develop the technologies which are required for sending a man to space ... If everything goes all right we will be able to have a manned mission wherein an astronaut will be orbiting the earth within eight years," he said.

India still has not laid out any plans on whether or not it will send astronauts to inhabit the Moon. The worlds largest democracy may be hesitant about committing towards lunar colonies in the future until they have proven themselves floating among the stars.

Hopefully India will consider revisiting the moon along with the other major space powers, as it would be sad to see such a great nation miss out on owning a piece of the sky.

India's Former President: Space Can Solve Energy Crisis

Unfortunately for our planet, human civilization is generally powered by death. Most of our energy comes from fossil fuels, which despite their "immediate blessing" are limited in supply, despite the future increase in demand.

India's former President, Dr. Abdul Kalem laid out perhaps the greatest argument for humanity to explore our solar system, which should appeal to the true believers as well as to the skeptics.

(Technology Review) Kalam said that India understands that global civilization will deplete earthly fossil fuels in the 21st century. Hence, he said, a "space industrial revolution" will be necessary to exploit the high frontier's resources. Kalam predicted that India will construct giant solar collectors in orbit and on the moon, and will mine helium-3--an incredibly rare fuel on Earth, but one whose unique atomic structure makes power generation from nuclear fusion potentially feasible--from the lunar surface.

Unless humanity can come up with a new energy source that can replace our dependence upon fossil fuels, then our species may witness the climax of our civilization as it exits the "golden age."

Although space can not ultimately save us from ourselves, it can provide us with more options to enhance our planet, and ultimately every world that orbits our parent star.

India Seeks Military Free Space Exploration

It looks like India is reversing an earlier decision regarding weaponizing the heavens above us and is instead pursuing an exploration of the cosmos free from military influence.

(ZeeNews.com) Implying that Chinese anti-satellite missile tests had no influence on India's space programme, President A P J Abdul Kalam has made it clear that New Delhi's space ambitions had no military interest.

"Indian space programme has no military interest," he said during a question-answer session at the International Space University here last night.

"It has been built to be locally relevant when globally challenging and its foundation is the quest of India and other space faring nations to use the collective wisdom of the humanity to solve the socio-economic problems of our society," he said.

Although this is a noble stance, India may have to reverse course on this decision once the moon begins to buzz with human activity. Despite our best wishes, humanity has never been known to ever visit a land without military escorts (during or after) and the Moon will probably be no exception.

India is currently seeking to expand its influence as an upcoming space power, as evidenced by its first successful rocket launch not too long ago. If any nation were to lead the way towards peaceful exploration, India would be the one to do it as it has yet to commit the cosmic sin of shattering a satellite in ones atmosphere.

India Outsourcing Space Projects To Private Sector

Housing roughly a sixth of the worlds population, it would be silly to expect India to remain on the sidelines while its western and easter neighbors head off into the final frontier.

Although India probably lacks the engineering capital to take on rivals such as China, they may be able to match the red dragon by outsourcing their projects to the emerging space industry.

(Space Mart) India's space agency ISRO will step up outsourcing of works related to satellite and rocket building to the private sector, which in the long run could churn out overall systems as the organisation focuses on research and development. [...]

"Yes, in the last 10 years we have not added even a single person to ISRO... our programmes have multiplied by more than three-fold. That shows industrial participation has come to that extent", [Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan] Nair said.

India seems to be taking a cue from Russia and America, except that they are taking this to the next level. By outsourcing needed projects to the emerging space (or alt.space) industry, India will be benefiting its own economy and cementing its position within the nation.

This may also help them catch up to China who ironically sees the US, not India as its main rival. India has enormous potential as a future space power, and it may not be too long until we see colonies dotting the lunar surface next to Indian flags.

Related: Emerging Asia by Ted Semon and Emerging Asia by Gregory Benford (via Paul Gilster).

Has The Military Space Race Begun? (India)

With China's recent ASAT test hitting the bullseye, it looks like India is taking its first steps in defending itself from heavenly attacks.

(Space War) India will set up an aerospace defence command to shield itself against possible attacks from outer space, officials said Sunday. [...]

"As the reach of our airforce is expanding it has become extremely important that we exploit space and for it you need space assets," Tyagi told reporters in the western city of Gandhinagar.

"We are an aerospace power having trans-oceanic reach and we have started training a core group of people for the aerospace command," the air chief marshall said without specifying a time-frame for the ambitious project.

Although India seeks to have a weapon free zone for the cosmos, such a measure is very unlikely given the history of our human race. With India building up its aerospace program, it is only a matter of time until Pakistan, and other middle eastern countries (like Iran) begin establishing themselves in the cosmos.

And when that happens, either humanity will begin to colonize its lunar neighbor (and beyond) for nationalistic reasons, or make a bigger mess of our paradise world. Here's praying to the former.

India's Baby Steps Towards Space Power Club

Despite its tiny budget for space programs, India seems to be a space power "in the making," as the worlds largest democracy successfully launched a rocket on its own power (not to mention retrieving it as well).

(Reuters) The capsule was blasted into space as one of four payloads on January 10 from a launch pad 100 km (60 miles) north of the southern city of Chennai. It splashed down in the Bay of Bengal 11 days later, boosting plans for a lunar mission in 2008.

"(It) landed in the Bay of Bengal ... as per schedule. The mission is a great success," said A. Subramoniam, head of the team that designed and built the capsule at the Indian Space Research Organization.

"This mission is a stepping stone to design and build our very own reusable spacecraft, and eventually (carry out) manned missions into space, too," he said.

Despite being tardy to the space race, India seems to be gaining momentum as it fine tunes its space program. Although their budget is somewhat limited, scientists and engineers are pushing to send one of their own to visit the stars, and perhaps walk on our lunar neighbor as well.

India Considers Sending Men In Space

After years of highlighting the benefits of machine over men, India is finally considering launching full blooded humans into space.

(The Space Review) India has long shunned manned spaceflight, given its expense and limited practical applications, the only exception being the flight of Rakesh Sharma on a Soviet-era Soyuz mission in 1984. However, in November a panel of Indian scientists and other officials (among them Sharma), endorsed a proposal to develop a manned spacecraft that could be launched by an upgraded version of India’s existing Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The program, according to an ISRO statement, would cost 100 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) over eight years: a not-insignificant sum for an agency whose current budget is around a half-billion dollars a year.

India probably realizes that unless they seriously consider sending their own citizens into space, there will be no emotional attachment to the stars, at least enough to justify the program.

With other nations drawing up plans to colonize the final frontier, it would be silly for India to simply focus on "robotizing" the cosmos that surrounds us.

India Seeking Life On Mars

India is considering launching an unmanned probe on the Martian surface to see whether or not life really does exist on the red planet.

(Mars Daily) Indian space scientists plan to send an unmanned mission to Mars by 2013 to look for evidence of life, a news report said on Sunday. The six-to-eight-month mission, likely to be launched in the next seven years, would cost three billion rupees (67 million dollars), the Hindustan Times reported.

"Mars is emerging on our horizon. The geo-stationary launch vehicle can take a payload to Mars and our Deep Space Network can track it all the way," G. Madhavan Nair, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told the newspaper.

India is already becoming very active within the space field, as they are already preparing to visit the Moon (although they only intend to do this via robots). Searching for life on Mars will probably raise India's global status as a major space player, although such a search may be futile as Martian soil is not friendly towards life.

India To Reach The Moon In 2008?

It appears that India has settled the debate on whether to send robots or humans into space. Unfortunately they have decided to go with the robots (as this author was rooting for the humans).

India will be planning a lunar mission around 2008, and will launch a satellite to locate not only valuable resources but water as well.

(Moon Daily) Discussing the aforesaid programme of ISRO, chairman PRI council, ISRO-DOS, Prof UR Rao said: "The mission aims to search for surface or sub-surface water-ice on the moon, specially at the lunar pole and to carry out high resolution mapping of topographic features in 3D. It would also look into the mineral composition of the moon." Rao, who is also Chancellor of Ambedkar University, was in the city on Tuesday.

Though Mission Moon would commence from 2006 and would culminate on 2008, space agencies of US (NASA), European Space Agency, Japanese and Chinese space agencies are working together to unravel some lesser known facts about the moon.

Getting India involved with space exploration is critical since one in six people on Earth reside in that nation of a billion faces. Although they are not sending any people to the lunar surface, their research should prove invaluable as it will help us locate the best spots for a lunar colony (and hopefully end the debate of where to establish one first).

India Reaching For The Stars

(Hat Tip: Mars Blog)

Desiring not to be left out of the upcoming space race, India has decided to take its place in the Universe by reaching out towards Earth's nearest neighbor--and to a distant one as well.

(Rediff.com News) After the moon mission, India wants to reach out to Mars and the government is keen to jump onto a possible global bandwagon for this potentially exciting planetary exploration.

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said the United States and Europe appear to favour a global partnership in this context, and India would be more than willing to be a partner in this huge exercise.

India is one of the world's largest nation, with about one and six people living within the Asian sub-continent. It is surprising that a nation this large has not already engaged in space travel (as its Chinese "neighbor" has).

The first step for India is the moon, although right now the nation is trying to decide whether to send robots or humans to the lunar surface.

(Rediff.com News) "It's not a question of shying away. Whether we need it (manned mission to moon) immediately or not; that debate is going on. Opinion is truly divided. Some people believe the instruments themselves are more than adequate.

Robots can do the job and so on. A few others believe it (manned mission) is a national pride and we should do it. We are also subjecting this for an internal review as well as in various professional bodies. Maybe in the course of a year, we will have better clarity on that (whether or not India should go for a manned mission)," he said.

Although robots would definitely be cheaper, India should seriously consider sending one of their own instead as it would establish the nation as a space power.

Robots and other machinery can take photos of the rugged landscape, but unless they make a footprint on the world, they may only become a footnote in the space history books.