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.
Courtesy: Pixabay/Comfreak
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
Courtesy: Wikipedia
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: Western Naval Command
China has expanded its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. President Xi Jinping has abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s conciliatory posture for an aggressive, money-fuelled search for super power status
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?
Courtesy: ngm.nationalgeographic
New Delhi’s space policy makers have been promoting the possibility of deriving Helium-3 from the Moon for Earth-based applications for over a decade—but it is not a viable proposition and it’s time they stopped placing the cart before the horse
Courtesy: ISRO
The Indian Space Programme has a mandate to focus on its launch- and earth-oriented capabilities. In the past decade, it has attempted some non-conventional experimental projects under the labels “‘low-cost” and “technology demonstrator”. However the effect of these experimental space projects on India’s techno-economic growth will be realised only if the central government gives the project greater status and funding.
Courtesy: Navaneeth Unnikrishnan / Wikipedia
A tectonic shift is occurring in the science landscape, wherein newly-developed nations are audaciously investing in frontier scientific research at par with developed nations. India is game to join this new wave of advancement, but its research-funding mechanisms are deficient. Can Indian philanthropy endow indigenous R&D?
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Instead of inviting foreign corporations to India to create a manufacturing base, Modi can use his Silicon Valley experience to build a similar research and development foundation in India for indigenous high-tech companies. A strategic space megaproject could be the start of this much-needed push.
Courtesy: wantchinatimes.com
Economic development and increments in scientific knowledge and technology, which in turn rest on R&D, are interconnected. India is falling behind and must allocate a greater share to R&D, while China must elevate the efficiency of its research expenditure—this focus will allow the two countries to continue to grow