Liquid Gold, Colonization of Space and Human Odysseys

  •   Fri, Aug 25 2023
  •   By Girish Linganna

August 25, 2023

INDIA, THE HOST OF NEXT MONTH’S G20 SUMMIT, has now joined the United States, Soviet Union and China as only the fourth country to achieve a successful moon landing and has established itself as the first naton globally to have etched its footprint in the lunar South Pole region.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi can manage to turn the G20 spotlight away from the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, he is expected to leverage the event to highlight the country’s growing geopolitical clout. India’s space economy is likely to be worth around USD13 billion by 2025 as opposed to the global space economy which, according to the Space Foundation in their annual report, has already reached a value of USD$546 billion in the second quarter of 2023. With the demand for global data of satellite imaging, positioning and navigation shooting up, the world is already witnessing exponential growth of the space economy.

Having privatized space launches, India is keen on opening up its space sector to foreign investment as it eyes a nearly five-fold rise in its share of the global launch market over the next decade by highlighting its cost-competitiveness.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX which aims at reducing space travel costs and has ambitious plans to colonize Mars, too, has praised India’s achievement. “Being a space lover, it’s incredible to see India’s #Chandrayaan3 space probe successfully landed on the Moon. India is a cool country with great tech talent & innovators,” posted Musk, the new boss of X, the social media platform earlier known as Twitter.

BOOST FOR DEVELOPMENT

The beneficial results of earlier space explorations—accessibility to clean drinking water—also known as ‘liquid gold’ in space—with water recycling on the International Space Station, worldwide Internet access for education provided by Starlink and rapid advances in solar power generation and health technologies—are already in evidence. Should India’s Pragyan rover discover ice sheets on the Moon’s exterior, it may pave the way for humans to explore the potential of establishing a new habitat. This discovery holds the potential to offer fuel, oxygen, and potable water for forthcoming missions.

In the light of this, the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission also bolsters India’s resolve to build a permanent infrastructure on the Moon. The ISRO had a modest budget of around only around USD74 million for the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, compared to NASA’s own estimates of USD93 billion through 2025 on its Artemis Moon program to which India became a signatory in July 2023. In 2021, China and Russia had announced that they would be jointly building a Moon base, and invited other nations to join their International Lunar Research Station, as a challenge to the Artemis Moon program.

KUDOS FROM THE TRADE BLOC

The successful moon landing is also expected to bolster the nation’s hopes of emerging as a global manufacturing hub as Western nations look to diversify supply chains. Indian business and trade bodies expressed their kudos for India reaching the Moon milestone.

“Over the years, they (ISRO) have given us many occasions to celebrate through the successes of the Indian space programme. But this stands out in particular,” said Subhrakant Panda, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Chairman of Bharat Web3 Association Dilip Chenoy said this giant step had “united the nation with a sense of pride and achievement”, while secretary-general of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India Deepak Sood signified the country’s resolve to “cross all barriers” based “on a solid foundation of science, technology and innovation”.

Satya Gupta, a semiconductor industry veteran behind a new non-profit group promoting the revitalization of the domestic electronics sector, said the Chandrayaan-3 mission would have a positive impact in promoting indigenous innovation.

CATALYST FOR PROGRESS

The achievement of a successful Moon landing is anticipated to strengthen the nation’s aspirations of becoming a worldwide manufacturing centre, especially as the Western countries seek to broaden their supply chain sources.

 

 
By Girish Linganna
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Leave a Comment

Title: Liquid Gold, Colonization of Space and Human Odysseys



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.