India's mission on the moon will cost less than a blockbuster in Hollywood

The Indian Space Agency is preparing to launch its second mission on the Moon, even as its ambitions are moving away from pure civilian research to military and commercial goals.

Chandrayaan-2 will take off in the early hours of Monday from Sriharikota, the launch pad of the Indian Space Research Organization on the east coast. The mission will deploy an orbiter around the moon; put the very first landing gear near the lunar south pole; and push a rover, named Pragyaan (Sanskrit for "wisdom"), to collect data.

The mission is a sequel to Chandrayaan-1, which began in 2008 and then discovered the widespread presence of water in the moon's ground.

But Chandrayaan-1 only used a probe that crashed to the surface and took its measurements there. This time, the lander aims to land slowly and gently so that Pragyaan can go out intact.

"These 15 minutes [of the soft-landing] This would be the most terrifying moment for us, "said last month ISRO President, K. Sivan. "Even a split second should not go against the plan. This will be the most difficult task ever undertaken by ISRO. "

Only the United States, Russia and China have already successfully completed a soft lunar landing. Israel tried one in April but failed after the crash of its lander.

Pragyaan will use spectroscopes to analyze the mineral content of the lunar soil. The LG and the Orbiter are also equipped with a range of instruments, including a retroreflector NASA, the US Space Agency, to improve measurements of Earth-Moon distances.

"The Chandrayaan-2 mission will help us understand [the Moon’s] Joice Mathew, a scientist at the Instrumentation and Advanced Technology Center in Canberra, Australia, said The National. "This will be a stepping stone to India's space exploration."

As usual with ISRO missions, all equipment and instruments of Chandrayaan-2 were originally developed. The cost of the mission is approximately $ 143 million, less than half of the film's budget. Avengers: End of the gameas pointed out by an Indian news site.

It has always been a major asset of ISRO: inexpensive, home-grown missions that have conducted fundamental research for a small fraction of the price of other national space projects.

At the founding of ISRO in 1969, his vision was closely linked to that of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who had called for a national space program seven years earlier. ISRO would continue its global research and exploration, but it would also seek to "harness" space technology to develop India.

As a result, ISRO missions sent satellites that facilitated communication, meteorology, canopy mapping, urban sprawl and crop production. All this was done sparingly – so much so that the most famous photo produced by ISRO shows a satellite transported by oxcart. But ISRO's rockets have always been launched and its satellites have always slipped cleanly into orbit, earning it a reputation for low-cost efficiency. The agency's commercial division, Antrix, is now launching satellites for other countries, including Canada, France and Germany.

"India's comparative advantage lies in its low cost of production, especially that of engineers and other technicians," said Ulaganathan Sankar, a professor at the Madras School of Economics and author of a book on the economic model of India. ISRO. But he said that the nature of this benefit is changing.

A number of private sector satellite launch companies around the world are now competing with Antrix, in a market estimated at around $ 28 billion by 2025.

"I think ISRO will still be the profitable launcher," said Dr. Mathew. But it is crucial, he said, that the agency remains at the forefront of technology by improving its reusable rockets, using 3D printing to manufacture components and by cooperating with private companies to stay at the forefront of technology. technology.

Others, however, believe that India's space program is refining another of its limitations.

In recent years, India has developed its military potential in space, "as evidenced by its new fleet of military satellites," said Namrata Goswami, independent space policy analyst. Dr. Goswami cited India's test on an anti-satellite missile in March and the launch of a defense space agency in June as evidence of this change.

"The economic and military boom of China and its [anti-satellite missile] tests have convinced India that its satellites and its territory are vulnerable and require a military space program, "she said.

India is also working on Gaganyaan, its first mission to launch human beings, scheduled for 2021.

These new initiatives reflect the hyper-patriotic and militaristic zeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since 2014. The Indian space program has always been an element of national pride, said Dr. Goswami. "The flavor of today's nationalism clearly interprets its efforts in outer space as part of the struggle for relative power and status in the world order.

At the same time, the Indian private sector is creating a multitude of new space companies, many of which are drawing on the talents of the country's information technology industry. Bengaluru-based Indus is one of five finalists for Google's Lunar X award. (The first prize of $ 20 million has not been claimed.) Team Indus is also part of an international group of companies that will design and build a Nasa lander for a Moon mission in 2020.

Last year, as part of the first major contract of its kind, ISRO entrusted the assembly and manufacture of dozens of satellites to private companies. Another company in Bengaluru, Bellatrix Aerospace, is working with ISRO on the development of a satellite-based waterborne propellant. Bellatrix recently raised $ 3 million from investors – the largest venture capital investment in space technologies in India to date.

Dr. Goswami said the interactions between the government space sector and these companies are still disrupted. There is "a lack of clear legal and regulatory structure to encourage investment, protect intellectual property and establish accountability".

But the energy is undeniable, she said. "There is an emerging narrative that India has a clear destiny in space and that it should seek to be the first among nations and to pursue new space activities."