Space

Chandrayaan-3 Finds Evidence of Global Lunar Surface Magma Ocean

Meteorites dug up the layers that cooled from this magma ocean and mixed up the rocks in them.

The moon’s surface used to be covered in an ocean of magma before it cooled. Afterwards, it was constantly bombarded by meteorites, which dug up heavier minerals that had sunk to the layers below, according to a study published by a team of Indian researchers in the journal Nature on August 21.

It settles earlier debates about whether the magma ocean covered all of the moon’s surface.

The theory of a magma ocean

According to one theory, the top 1,000 kilometres of the moon’s surface was covered in molten magma immediately after its birth about 4.5 billion years ago.

In the next hundreds of millions of years, heavier minerals like pyroxene and olivine (which are rock-forming mineral groups that are also present in the earth’s mantle) settled below lighter elements like plagioclase (a mineral belonging to what is called the feldspar group, which contain both alumina and silica). As the moon cooled, these elements settled in layers.

Rock samples from the Apollo and Luna missions from near the equator and Chinese missions from the mid-latitudes supported this theory, and the present study using Chandrayaan-3 data from near its poles provides more evidence in its favour.

A team of Indian researchers studied the elements on the lunar soil at about 70 degrees latitude of the moon. They made 23 observations using the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on the Pragyan rover, dispatched by the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 last August.

The team was based in the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna University in Uttarakhand’s Srinagar, and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Bengaluru.

Like the previous missions that studied rocks from the lower and mid-latitudes, the study found rocks of the type ferroan anorthosite, rich in plagioclase.

“The southern region being dominated by these rocks gives strong evidence that these rocks are spread all over the moon, which could only happen because of the magma ocean,” said Santosh V. Vadawale from the PRL, one of the authors of the study.

However, the study found that this type of rock was not the only kind in these latitudes: about one-fourth of rocks contained lighter magnesium minerals, pyroxene and olivine.

These lighter elements were later dug over billions of years by meteorites, which formed craters of various sizes inside bigger craters called basins. Each meteorite carried bits and pieces of these lighter rocks to the top layers, giving rise to a mixture of rock types at these latitudes.

“All the pieces are coming together,” said Vadawale.

Senthil Kumar Perumal, a scientist at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, who is not associated with the study, supported the findings. He explained that the location of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site exposed it to a large amount of lighter minerals from the lower layers due to a larger possibility of meteorites’ impact.

“The South Pole Aitken basin is the largest impact basin on the Moon, and the Chandrayaan-3 landing site is located on top of the debris materials that were produced from the … basin,” he said.

But could there be more to the layers?

But not all experts agree with this interpretation of the measurements.

A planetary geologist who did not wish to be named for fear of retaliation said that the results could be explained without the mixing caused by meteorites. They said the mixing was advanced by measurements from low latitudes by the Apollo missions, but the reality could be a more complicated mixture of magnesium-rich rocks near the poles.

The mixing hypothesis rests on the fact that there is a lower fraction of magnesium-heavy minerals in the top layers. However, if there were more pyroxene and olivine-heavy rocks near the poles as the moon cooled, then mixing is not required at all.

There is some evidence for this claim. Lunar meteorites are pieces of moon rock launched from various parts of the moon by meteorites that eventually land on Earth. Since 1979, close to 400 lunar meteorites have been discovered. Scientists studying these rocks have proposed a complicated mixture of magnesium rocks at high latitudes, which could naturally explain the present observations, said the expert.

Vadawale agreed that the interpretation of their Nature study is debatable, but that their measurements of the fractions of the different minerals in the high-altitude rocks are robust. All experts The Wire spoke to agreed.

Debdutta Paul is a freelance science journalist.

Ram Rajya’s Dalliance With Science Is a Lesson for Us

To allow religious heads or corporates to intervene in the organic path of scientific exercises and regular data collection is to invite chaos and hostilities.

“I imagined myself sitting on the end of a beam of light and imagined what I would see.”

– Albert Einstein

I remembered the words when a photo on the front page of one of the highest selling Hindi dailies caught my eye this morning. It showed our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, sitting huddled over a tablet inside a plane after an election rally in Assam’s Nalbari. The photo shows him gravely looking at a sunbeam anointing the forehead of the newly installed statue of Ram Lalla on Ram Navami.

If only Einstein were here to see the image!

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

This year a few days before India began the democratic exercise of voting in a government, the rays of the noon time sun were cleverly directed to fall directly on the idol’s forehead on his birthday. The media was told by the chairman of the temple building trust that the idea came from the PM himself. He wanted a merging of tradition and high science to create a memorable image within the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. It was duly done and the moment was described by an excited agency reporter as though the sun himself was applying a ‘raj tilak’ upon the newly installed idol of Ram. It was hugely symbolic since Ram’s Ikshwaku clan is said to have descended from the sun god and is called Suryavanshi. The caption beneath the photo also underscored that even though he was in Assam, the PM watched the holy ritual live, feet bare out of reverence.

Later the PM himself posted the photo on the popular social media platform X saying he was supremely lucky to have witnessed the magical moment. It had made him feel sentimental (“bhavuk”) and newly energised. He was sure millions of Indians watching the holy ritual must also have experienced similar joy and excitement.

Posts on X (earlier called tweets) from usually reliable sources explained how the feat was achieved. After the PM desired that the celebrations showcase both the ancient and the modern, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru (an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology) was tasked to do a special ‘Surya Tilak Project’. It consisted of steering a beam of the sun from the third floor of the yet to be completed temple, straight into the Garbha Griha and ensuring it fell directly on the forehead of the deity. The scientists swung into motion. A device was manufactured in Bengaluru and the installation at the site was mentored by another apex institute of engineering, the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) in Roorkee. Together they, through a scientific positioning of four mirrors and two lenses that guided the sun rays at the auspicious hour decided by the priests, did it. We were also told that once the top (‘shikhara’) is in place, a permanent aperture will be created so the feat can be recreated year after year! This feat would be executed with four mirrors and four lenses. And since the Roman calendar repeats the position of the sun only once in 19 years on this auspicious day, care has been taken to tweak the system astronomically to follow the sun’s position according to the Hindu lunar calendar and direct its rays at the hour set by the priests.

Also read: The Ruling Elite Can Create Ram Rajya. Will They?

Whoever scrutinises the photograph of the honourable PM sitting reverentially hunched over his tablet with bare feet, eminent Hindi papers and anchors told us, will understand that the PM has an acute sense of mission – bringing in Ram Rajya to India ASAP. Once he wins a third term, and he is sure he will, he has declared his intent to introduce a barrage of reforms for the next decade. It will be revolutionary and galvanise not only the techies, corporates and SMEs in metro cities but also the laidback, somnolent youth in the ancient cities of Ayodhya, Kashi , Ujjain, Haridwar and Kashi to get going and turn these small pilgrim towns into smart tourist hubs that will generate jobs and big money. According to reports, bands of committed bureaucrats are already hard at work on blueprints. Thus Bharat, the mother of democracy, is Vishwa Guru.

Many more roads, railways, schools of medicine and high-tech airports and grand new (Bhavya-Nvya) residential quarters will be required for Bharat (no longer referred to as India) to take the big leap into Ram Rajya.

It doesn’t matter if completion of the dream takes five years or 10 or 25, the important fact is that the archetype spelt out by the ritual – and the leader watching the ritual within his aircraft – occupies the collective conscience of Bharat that was India.

The question arises, are we the people of this vast nation, ready to take a somewhat strange pendulous big leap that takes us backwards and then forward at the same time against the known laws of physics? This is where the scientists and event managers and priests may step on to the stage and dazzle us once again with mirrors and lenses placed just so.

In 2014 Europe and the US and their media after the new PM’s visits abroad, expected a furthering of Gandhi and Nehru’s ideals for India’s development as a vast, modern and market friendly democratic state led by the rightwing. The leadership no doubt exuded charismatic vibes and made sure during the visits to attend events that showcased NRIs’ vast admiration for him. He also continued to pay homage to the Buddha and Gandhi and our ancient and principled stand on world peace, encapsulated in the phrase Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam. But post COVID-19, things began to change. Even now when touring within the country the leader certainly creates a passionate atmosphere with speeches about ‘achhe din’, women’s empowerment and our great and rich intellectual traditions. But voices from the margin, especially in the east and down south, are raising question marks over a Ram Rajya that would be basically rooted in Brahmanical codes set by Manu, in Sanskrit.

Also read | Interview: The BJP May Defend ‘Sanatan Dharma’, But Can’t Define What it Means

Hindi of the north becoming the Rashtra Bhasha, along with Brahminism, touch a certain painful nerve south of the Vindhyas. That the leader works hard and is very well informed, of that there is no doubt. Also, most would agree there is no corruption in him. But by now several verified reports reveal there is corruption in the state and many regulatory bodies, and huge amounts of black money are being used to buy up elected representatives. Frequent defections have brought down popular governments in several states. Then there is the prolonged incarceration of several naysayers and opposition leaders under yet-to-be-proven charges. All that seems contrary to the common image of Ram’s Rajya where all lived equally happy lives, “Jasu raj sub praja sukhari”. Even the shot inside the aircraft cannot dispel a certain edginess in the face, proof that here is an intelligent man who is aware of the situation where unemployment and inflation will continue to generate huge pressures even after the battle is won.

As the Surya Tilak ritual has revealed, there are thousands of temples and 33 crore deities but the ultimate secret divinity of our century is science. Algorithms are our ultimate go-to solution when it comes to everything from preparing blueprints for a grand temple to building roads and homes. We need science more than almanacs, algos more than Sanskrit for building a modern democracy. We need to go from directing the sun’s rays on Ram Navami, to landing on the moon. To allow religious heads or corporates to intervene in the organic path of scientific exercises and regular data collection is to invite chaos and hostilities.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I am not sure about the universe,” Einstein had said.

Saakhi is a Sunday column from Mrinal Pande, in which she writes of what she sees and also participates in. That has been her burden to bear ever since she embarked on a life as a journalist, writer, editor, author and as chairperson of Prasar Bharti. Her journey of being a witness-participant continues.

Space Colonisation Vs Earth’s Liveability, What Should Be Our Priority?

Sending humans to space without an overarching vision to save our future will end up as a mere flag-waving show. The space surrounding the Earth is now becoming a junkyard with defunct satellites and metal debris posing a threat to newly launched space vehicles.

Former US President Barack Obama had a message for the likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the super-rich of the world. Speaking at a renewable energy conference during the recent 2024 POwR.Earth Summit in Paris, Obama criticised Silicon Valley tycoons who are building spaceships for engaging in costly and ambitious plans to colonise the solar system while we are staring at a bleak future for the Earth due to degrading living space.

Elon Musk, for example, is reported to have launched his aerospace company, SpaceX with an investment of around $100 million. And Jeff Bezos may have invested between $7.5 billion and $20 billion in his aerospace company, Blue Origin. Unlike Elon Musk, who is targeting the human colonisation of Mars, Bezos wants to explore the potential of space stations that can be converted into large space stations near Earth. He visualise “a trillion humans living in the solar system”, who could opt to visit the Earth on holiday.

The former US president in the Paris meeting said, “But when I hear some of the people talk about the plan to colonise Mars because the earth’s environment may become so degraded that it becomes unlivable, I look at them like, what are you talking about?” He continued, “I would rather us invest in taking care of this planet here”. He said that space exploration should be pursued for gathering knowledge and discovery rather than creating new living space for humanity. “We were designed for this place, and it would be good if we kept this place in a way that’s liveable,” he concluded.

It is also appropriate here to point out that Barack Obama should also have been critical of the political class to which he belongs. The fact is that many rich countries’ political leadership is equally megalomaniacal in promoting human spaceflight programmes. Politicians who typically baulk when asked to invest in climate-change mitigation or fundamental research jump at the chance to release the purse strings for spaceflight – even if they are of dubious relevance.

A case in point: the ‘space command’, which the US, China, and India, are currently engaged in setting up. As a result of such showmanship, we are militarising space in earnest. If taken to its logical conclusion, this will further damage a world already divided along religious, racial, class and caste lines. Remembering that India has been an active votary of the peaceful use of outer space is beneficial. Back in 1968, Vikram Sarabhai, then chairman of The Indian National Committee of Space Research, was the scientific chairman of the first UN Conference on the peaceful use of outer space.

The Government of India invested more than Rs 10,000 crore for the country’s first human spaceflight programme, to be possibly fulfilled in July 2024. Called Gaganyaan, the project is part of India’s efforts to portray itself as a global space power or at least place itself on par with China. Under this project, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send three Indian astronauts to low-Earth orbit for a little less than a week and return them safely. When such space initiatives are announced, the fundamental question should revolve around their overall rationale and expected scientific outcome. One such question is of priorities: is it worth investing in a programme that may not be able to produce any concrete scientific benefits?

Like the Mars Orbital and Chandrayaan missions, besides the technology development, what do we hope to achieve in terms of new insights other than being a flag-waving exercise? As pointed out by Arup Dasgupta, former deputy director of the Space Applications Centre, ISRO, in an article in The Wire of March 2019, it is moot as to why India did not join the International Space Station programme if it was also committed to an ‘Indian in space’ programme.

Also read: ISRO Doesn’t Have a Satisfactory Answer to Why It Wants to Put Indians in Space

The debates in the West mainly revolve around the point that the survival of humanity depends on expanding beyond the confines of our planet, which Jeff Bezos repeats in response to Obama’s critique. The celebrated physicist the late Steven Weinberg, also a well-known science communicator in his book, Third Thoughts (2018), is dismissive of such arguments.

He says, “Manned spaceflight is a spectator sport, which can be exciting for spectators, but this is not the sort of excitement that seems to lead to anything serious.” Rather than from human space flights. Much of the breakthroughs on the origin and evolution of the universe have all been derived from data generated by space-based observatories like the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The newly constructed Simons Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile will now add more observations on the early universe.

The Hubble space telescope belongs in this league, as the most significant space-based observatory, now succeeded by the James Webb Space Telescope. Robotic missions – like the Curiosity rover on Mars, the Yutu rover on the Moon, JUNO around Jupiter, and the Hayabusa 2 probe at the Ryugu asteroid – are expanding our horizons. After a seven-year round trip, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx brought rock samples to Earth on 24 September 2023 from an asteroid named Bennu—billions of kilometres from Earth.

Lori Garver, a former deputy administrator of NASA, wrote a piece titled “Forget New Crewed Missions in Space. NASA Should Focus on Saving Earth” in The Washington Post dated 18 July 2019: “NASA remains one of the most revered and valuable brands in the world, and the agency is at its best when given a purpose. But the public doesn’t understand the purpose of spending massive amounts of money to send a few astronauts to the moon or Mars. Are we in another race, and if so, is this the most valuable display of our scientific and technological leadership? If science is the rationale, we can send robots for pennies on the dollar”.

Consider the US National Academy of Sciences’ decadal strategy for Earth Science and Applications from Space (ESAS). For example, ESAS 2017 declared that NASA should prioritise the study of the global hydrological cycle; the distribution and movement of mass between oceans, ice sheets, groundwater and the atmosphere; and changes in surface biology and geology.

Since its humble beginnings in Thumba, a small hamlet near Thiruvananthapuram, in 1963, ISRO has also made commendable contributions, including achievements in communications and remote sensing. We must also ask what the future priorities of our publicly funded space science and technology initiatives are and the science thereof. The wish list can include targets to develop comprehensive Earth observation systems and build linkages to higher education centres in the country that could then conduct research based on the data obtained from Earth and planetary observation systems.

Barack Obama’s caveat needs to be discussed at a global level in the backdrop of the failure to manage outer space as a commons. ‘Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to make a trip to space said in a recent interview, “Let us not build hell on far-off planet”.

C.P. Rajendran is an adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

As Space Security Scares Mount, India Works on Military Space Capabilities

India is taking steps towards its defence space efforts through the Defence Space Agency, which was formed in 2019 to create a tri-service integrated Aerospace Command led by the Indian Air Force.

New Delhi: Recent US intelligence suggesting Russia may be proposing to locate a nuclear weapon in space to target satellites, resulted in panic not just in the US, but the rest of the world, not geared to counter the new threat. The reality of China with colossal budgets, being far ahead in the race, is bringing attention to India’s steps towards its defence space efforts led by the Defence Space Agency (DSA) formed in 2019 to create a tri-service integrated Aerospace Command led by the Indian Air Force.

Serious discussions on the strategy and blueprint of the much-needed command are underway. Being a complex technological challenge, the Aerospace Command will become fully operational in a decade or more. Not having a command does not imply India has no defence space assets or no activity in progress.

There is no cause for concern, (Retd) Air Vice Marshal D.V. Khot, former Director General DSA, told The Wire. “This is not a sudden activity kicking off. It is more of a rolling evolution of capability.”

“The defence space command will be a nodal agency in a wholesome fashion that will look after the requirements of space for the military. It will be an upgradation of DSA. Our mandate is to upscale capabilities,” he added.

“Space being space requires a gestation period and budgets,” he explained. The road is complex as next-gen technology upgrade needs of the military for Command, Control, Positioning Navigation and Timing System, Communications, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance will change along the way. “It is better to have some information than no information at all,” a military space-related official said.

The Aerospace Command is likely to pick up learnings from the US Space Command that has been morphed according to changing requirements of world events. It recently released its updated strategic vision affirming the need to “ensure a safe, secure, and sustainable domain amid increasing threats”. “By 2027, USSPACECOM (will) enable Joint Force lethality …. protecting it from space-enabled attack.”

As space gets crowded, the risk of collision among satellites and debris increases. India, like many other nations, may also have to deal with hostile counterspace attacks.

“We want more (money)” is the constant refrain of those involved. Recently, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan announced at the DefSat conference held in New Delhi: “Indian armed forces have earmarked funds of Rs 25,000 crore to meet defence space requirements, ranging from building a constellation of surveillance satellites to secure communications networks.”

Chauhan welcomed the participation of the private sector to help fasten the process of launching and constructing defence satellites. While this is a generous start, it is a tedious journey as the military moves towards a fully operationalised Aerospace Command. The Space Policy 2023, for instance, will need to be enacted as an act for the private sector to participate and invest in space-based applications and services in defence.

A beginning has been made. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and US-based Satellogic will collaborate on the development of a new satellite design and work together to integrate multiple payloads on a single satellite that will generate a diverse range of data over India – the first of which is planned to be launched as TSAT-1A, according to a joint statement. “The focus will be on manufacturing satellites and developing imagery in India for national defence and commercial applications,” it added.

The emergent need is apparent. China has at least 140 military satellites and a space program that is miles ahead, having conducted an Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test 12 years before India did in March 2019. According to NBC News, the most worrisome development has been China’s advances in hypersonic manoeuvre missiles. Launched from a rocket, hypersonic missiles pose a risk to satellites, fly at least 20 times the speed of sound, can circle the Earth and strike a target while evading most ground-based air defences.

India has around 15 military-application satellites but only two dedicated ones. The Indian Navy GSAT-7R, an Indian Navy communications satellite, delayed by two years already, is expected to be launched later in the year to replace the aged GSAT-7, called Rukmini that gives the Navy real time communication link between its land stations, surface ships, submarines, and aircraft. GSAT-7A (Angry Bird) is used by the Air Force. GSAT 7B, first in the five-tonne category, for advanced communication needs of the army cleared last year for acquisition to be developed by ISRO, has yet to take off.

Price Waterhouse Coopers in a recent report reiterated: “India has made good progress in the space domain…… with good capabilities in civilian satellite applications. However, due to the changing nature of space use and a concerted move towards non-kinetic warfare, there is a need to increase focus on the military applications of space technologies.”

India has been slow to utilise space for military benefit as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through the decades insisted it was only a civil space organisation. This was due to US sanctions. It was only in 2016 that India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control body with an informal political understanding to limit proliferation of missiles and missile technology. But the mindset of ISRO through time, remains till date.

Given the slow progress of military satellites being launched and the need for large volumes of nano satellites in low earth orbit that have a shorter shelf life and require faster replacement, the military has said it would like the private sector to enter the field. For this it has suggested a launch – on-demand – that would be overseen by the Aerospace Command, The Wire has learnt.

Only time will tell whether, and when, this fructifies.

Neelam Mathews is a defence reporter based in Delhi

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

A Young Boy’s Journey From Remote Rajasthan to Space Scientist at ISRO

From learning English and graduating from his bachelor’s programme to winning a Chevening scholarship, Nitish Shrimal has done it all. Now, he wants to make this knowledge accessible to those from humble backgrounds like his.

In an interview, Anna Szolucha, a distinguished researcher and faculty member at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Jagiellonian University, speaks with Nitish Shrimal, a scientist at ISRO, about his career path and much more.

Throughout his academic and professional journey, Nitish encountered challenges that tested his resilience, from overcoming language barriers to adapting to unexpected career paths within ISRO. Yet, each obstacle served as a stepping stone, shaping his perspective on hard work and determination.

Attributing the success of Chandrayaan 3, he remarked that the event has instilled a sense of “we can do it” within ISRO and the nation.

Below are excerpts from a conversation between Szolucha and Shrimal, who is also a Chevening scholar. They have been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Anna Szolucha [AS]: Could you tell me how your passion for space exploration began? What sparked your interest?

Nitish Shrimal [NS]: I grew up in a village in a remote part of Rajasthan. My family didn’t have many resources and, even in 2007, electricity wasn’t always available. Recognising these challenges, I knew I had to step up to improve my family’s life. It was during my 10th grade that I read about renowned scientists like APJ Abdul Kalam, who later became the President of India, and Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program. Their stories were deeply inspiring. Around the same time, I began reading about the Columbia accident and the tragic loss of Kalpana Chawla, further igniting my fascination with space. This eventually led me to learn about the formal paths to join space organisations like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

However, I wasn’t sure if I could ever get into ISRO. Back then, it was considered as prestigious and competitive as NASA or the European Space Agency, with extremely challenging entrance exams. I diligently prepared for the IIT-JEE entrance exam. Unfortunately, I missed the qualifying mark by a single point.

I had also applied to a college called the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, which was a new college at that time. It wasn’t as prestigious then, but it was the only college in India dedicated to space studies. I chose Aerospace Engineering and graduated in 2016.

However, when I was in college, I faced a challenge because my primary language was Hindi, which is mostly spoken in the northern part of India. But B.Tech and bachelor’s degrees in Engineering are usually taught in English, so I had to learn and interpret engineering concepts in English and that was a significant challenge. I overcame that challenge and am fluent in it now. That was a personal achievement for me at that time, being able to learn a foreign language and excel at it.

Then in my final year of the B.Tech program, I met Professor R.V. Ramanan, who became my mentor. He taught spaceflight mechanics and he was also a deputy project director in Chandrayaan-1, which was India’s first Moon mission. I was very fortunate to learn the subject from such an expert. He was very humble and interactive, and he made sure that everyone in the class understood the material. He wouldn’t move on to the next topic until even the student in the last row understood the problem and could solve it. I was very impressed with him so I requested him to be my supervisor and he agreed.

I did my first internship on Sun synchronous polar orbit design at ISTRAC Bangalore, which is a tracking station for ISRO. The project that I also did was under Professor Ramanan’s guidance and it was on Earth re-entry trajectory optimisation using angle of attack modulation for a shift in landing site. So, suppose a spacecraft has to land on a particular landing site, but due to some reason, it needs to land on a different site, right? What changes would the spacecraft need to make in orbit at entry conditions? This was a fascinating project, and it sparked my interest in orbital mechanics. I wanted to pursue my career in orbital mechanics. I was very passionate about it.

However, when it came to recruitment in ISRO, the centre is allocated randomly. So, I was allocated to the Liquid Propulsion System Centre, where all the work is about propulsion. I was a little disappointed at that time that I didn’t get the field I wanted to work in, but it was also a good time to reflect. As I started working, my interest in propulsion grew. I’ve been working in this area for about eight years now. This experience taught me that whatever happens in life, happens for a reason, and in the long run, it doesn’t matter whether you get the subject you were initially interested in or not. We always adapt. It’s human nature to always adapt, even though it takes time, and you only realise it later.

I started my journey as a propulsion engineer at ISRO in 2016. After five years, I was looking for a change and new career opportunities. That’s when I saw a post from one of my colleagues that said, “I can’t keep calm, I was chosen for Chevening!” That’s the motto of the Chevening scholarship, and it sparked my curiosity. I wanted to know more about it. When I found out that the Chevening scholarship was a fully funded scholarship for all Commonwealth country professionals, I decided to apply for it, and I got it! It was a lot of hard work. The application process is a year long, and if you’re not at your best at any stage, you won’t get it. If I hadn’t gotten it, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Surrey on my own financial resources, so this was a much-needed scholarship. Once I secured it, I was over the moon, and I told myself that I had to make the most of this one year.

I participated in all sorts of activities, including volunteering. I participated in many university activities and even received the Employability award because I spent over 100 hours in workshops and volunteering activities. I also enrolled in an additional module, the Global Graduate Award: Introduction to Sustainability. In addition to my courses, I volunteered for One Young World, which was held in Manchester that year. I wanted to make the most of this year because it was a hard-earned opportunity, and I wanted to excel in it. I also knew this incredible opportunity allowed me to travel. I came to the UK to immerse myself in the culture, particularly the space culture. I visited Glasgow and, towards the end of my stay, ventured into Europe, visiting Pisa and Milan before returning to re-join ISRO. After my return, I was awarded the opportunity to work on Chandrayaan 3.

AS: The Chevening scholarship application process coincided with recruitment for New Space India Limited (NSIL). You were offered a position at NSIL but declined, even before knowing the scholarship outcome. This suggests it held great importance. Why was traveling to the UK and gaining that experience so crucial for you?

NS: I saw the New Space India Limited (NSIL) interview as a practice run. My primary goal was Chevening. Success at NSIL would boost my confidence for Chevening. However, once I got an offer letter from NSIL Deputy Manager post, I became interested in NSIL’s mission to privatise India’s space sector. The position as a deputy manager, one of the organisation’s initial members, was very appealing. However, I had to decline as it wouldn’t allow further studies within the first four to five years, and pursuing studies was a strong personal desire.

While my background is in aerospace engineering, with five years of propulsion experience, I lacked a holistic understanding of spacecraft operations. Other subsystems like thermal, AGNC, AOCS and Spacecraft Structures remained unfamiliar. Acquiring this knowledge would be advantageous in the long run, especially for future leadership roles in ISRO, where understanding how all subsystems interact is crucial.

Thankfully, the one-year Master’s degree program allowed the organisation to grant me leave. While a two-year program, more common in India and other countries, would have been challenging to pursue, the one-year format aligned with my availability perfectly.

Additionally, I harboured personal interests. As a cricket enthusiast, the scholarship presented an opportunity to visit Lord’s, the Mecca of cricket, and participate in related activities. Visiting filming locations for the Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones brought me immense personal pleasure.

While I packed a lot into my trip, I never compromised my studies. In fact, I received the Cable & Wireless Award for Best Overall Performance in my cohort at the University of Surrey. Balancing it all required discipline and dedication but it was crucial to satisfy my cultural curiosity and experience this new world while still excelling in my studies.

AS: You juggle a lot, balancing your current work at ISRO, your education and even a scholarship. Could you tell me about your concept of hard work? What role does it play in your life and how do you define it?

NS: In college, I came across the idea that with AI and other advancements, “smart hard work” would replace hard work as the key to success in the future. I embraced that notion and believed it for a while. However, joining ISRO made me realise that smart hard work can sometimes lead to skipping crucial steps in the process. You jump from point A to point B, but miss out on the valuable learning in between. True success, I’ve discovered, lies in embracing the “real hard work” that involves going through the entire process. This approach has yielded far more knowledge than shortcuts ever could. So, for me, hard work means fully engaging with the process, not finding ways to circumvent it.

AS: What motivates you in your current work as a space propulsion engineer? Who or what are you working for? What is your mission?

NS: While I enjoy my current position, I have a strong desire to share the knowledge I’ve gained. Coming from a humble background, I understand how unaware many people, especially in my village, are about space technology and its potential benefits for humanity. Just as I once struggled to navigate the path to ISRO, I see a gap in knowledge and accessibility that needs bridging. On a personal level, I try to connect with college students by offering career guidance, participating in podcasts and webinars (including some introductory sessions on rocket propulsion), and starting with basic principles like how a balloon flies, to spark curiosity in young minds.

During my search for a scholarship, I came across various options like the Chevening Fulbright and DAAD. Inspired to help others, I created a YouTube channel called ‘Your Scholar Guide’ to offer insights and guidance on scholarship opportunities. The channel received positive feedback and gained over 1,500 subscribers within six months.

One challenge I faced was obtaining an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate for studying in the UK. This certificate, required for certain courses with potential misuse of sensitive technology, delayed my progress due to processing time and restrictions on specific keywords. Originally applying for Space Engineering at the University of Surrey, I had to switch to Satellite Communication Engineering within a short timeframe. Convincing both the Chevening scholarship committee and the University of Surrey required additional effort.

It highlighted a common issue faced by international students seeking ATAS certificates, which often leads to delays and confusion. To address this, I created a video explaining the application process, which gained significant views. While currently inactive, I plan to resume this initiative once I have more time from my professional commitments.

AS: As an alumnus of both the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and the Chevening scholarship program, you have access to some impressive alumni networks. Many in the Indian space industry have spoken about the crucial role these networks play in their careers. Could you share your experience and highlight their importance to you?

NS: Absolutely. Networking undeniably plays a major role in shaping career trajectories. In fact, my professional network began with Professor Ramanan, who generously provided crucial reference letters for my Chevening application. His support made a significant difference. He also connected me with Meg Bhatnagar, a senior alumnus with coding expertise, who helped me overcome a challenge with my Earth re-entry trajectory optimization problem.

Furthermore, within my first batch at IIST, Vasu, a senior I met during an interaction at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, shared his experience as the first Chevening scholar there. He graciously explained the application process and guided me through it. This reinforced an important lesson: having someone available to answer questions and offer support makes reaching any goal, be it a scholarship, job or another aspiration, considerably smoother. It’s like having a lifeline in a challenging sea.

Mentorship is equally vital, regardless of career stage. Networking provided me with invaluable mentorship at various points in my journey: securing employment at ISRO, embarking on the Chevening scholarship, and now exploring opportunities in Europe with the support of Professor Andrea Lucca, my former supervisor at Surrey, who will be a referee for me based on his familiarity with my work. Essentially, networking offers continuous support and opens doors throughout your career.

Even currently, I actively engage with the CEO of Skyroot, India’s first private Space Company, demonstrating the ongoing benefits of networking.

AS: After graduating, you interned at ISRO. Reflecting on your first interactions there, what were your initial impressions of the organization?

NS: As a student, I perceived ISRO as heavily guarded, which is understandable for any institute of its kind. While you’re inside, you don’t feel it, but as an outsider, the security measures are evident. However, the people were friendly. During my bachelors internship, my guide at ISTRAC, Padma Dev Mishra, guided my friend and me throughout the project. He explained everything clearly and, being enthusiastic students, we completed the work that was supposed to take us six months in just a month.

Years later, when I worked on the Chandrayaan 3 project and had to visit ISTRAC, the same centre for tracking propulsion performance of spacecraft, I met Mr. Mishra again. He had grown into a leadership position by then. Despite the seven-year gap, he recognised me and fondly recalled our collaboration. In fact, on the day Chandrayaan 3 landed on the Moon, I saw him commentating on the mission live on television. It was surreal to remember him as my guide and witness his professional journey. I captured a screenshot of him on TV and shared it on my WhatsApp status, highlighting how the person I once worked with was now a prominent figure in the mission. Such serendipitous connections bring little joys to life.

AS: You’ve likely encountered the American perspective on space as the “final frontier,” implying a need for conquest. Some contend this view is ethnocentric. Could you share your perspective on this metaphor and how you envision outer space?

NS: Unlike conquering, I see space exploration as a shared endeavour for the betterment of humanity. India’s space program has primarily focused on development and growth, providing crucial telecommunication infrastructure that has significantly boosted our education and IT sectors. Space activities also support disaster management, minimizing losses during cyclones, for example. These are valuable by-products of exploration.

From an Indian perspective, I believe in harmony and collective well-being. Space exploration should serve these values. Of course, understanding our place in the universe, searching for potential life elsewhere, and pursuing lunar and Martian missions are all important endeavours. However, I stand against a competitive space race.

AS: How do you envision India’s role in the international space sector? What are its strengths and how can it contribute more significantly?

NS: Recent surveys indicate that India’s contribution to the global space economy stands at merely 3%, highlighting our immense potential in this arena. Our young population, with 60-70% falling between 30 and 40 years old, represents a significant strength. However, proper guidance and a well-defined path are crucial. The success of Chandrayaan 3 has instilled a sense of “we can do it” within ISRO and the nation. While the Chandrayaan 2 setback raised doubts, Chandrayaan 3’s achievement has bolstered my personal confidence in ISRO’s capabilities as well. As an expert in my specific subsystem, witnessing such collective success strengthens my trust in the team. The ongoing lunar and Aditya missions further fuel our aspirations for space exploration.

India has the potential to be a leading force in space programs, as evidenced by the planned Chandrayaan 4 sample return mission. Additionally, the XPoSat mission, a collaborative effort between NASA and ISRO, launched on January 1, 2024, demonstrates our growing international partnerships.

AS: Your long-term ambition was to establish your own space company in India. Does this aspiration remain your ultimate goal?

NS: Absolutely, I still harbour that ambition, but my timeline has shifted. While two years ago I envisioned starting the company within six or seven years, I now believe that additional expertise and knowledge are key before embarking on this venture. My current goal is to gain further experience in the European or UK space sectors, potentially accompanied by a Master’s degree in business. I also have specific interests in demonstrating green propulsion technology and its potential role in spacecraft reusability. Establishing my own company remains a long-term objective, and although the timeframe has adjusted, the fundamental goal endures as my career path unfolds.

AS: What sparked your interest in green propulsion? What drives you to pursue this particular ambition?

NS: Earth’s resources are rapidly depleting. Conventional space and launch vehicle propellants like monomethyl hydrazine and N2O4 pose significant health and environmental risks. They’re carcinogenic, require extensive safety measures, and raise launch costs. My goal is to develop “green” propellants that are safer to handle, have no adverse health effects, and minimize environmental impact. Achieving these three goals would benefit people’s health, protect the environment, and potentially reduce costs.

AS: Some prominent ISRO leaders, like APJ Abdul Kalam, were known for their spiritual inclinations and philosophical views on space exploration. The current chairman has also been seen visiting temples before crucial launches. How do you view the relationship between spirituality and space exploration?

NS: I see them as distinct realms. One pertains to inner peace and mental well-being, the other to one’s professional domain. Good mental health can undoubtedly enhance performance in any profession, including space exploration. However, I believe they remain separate aspects. Inner peace can benefit various aspects of life, from personal relationships and finances to hobbies and networking. While someone might be spiritual and not interested in space, or vice versa, I don’t see an inherent connection between the two.

AS: Some perceive a contradiction between being a scientist and having spiritual beliefs in a higher power. You, however, view them as complementary. Is that accurate?

NS: Absolutely. They can be complementary, and managing them effectively is crucial. In trajectory design, we model potential errors caused by lunar gravity, solar perturbations, and atmospheric drag. However, for low-altitude targets, pinpointing these errors with absolute accuracy is impossible. There will always be some margin of error. In those instances, I believe in a higher power that minimizes these uncontrollable factors. While our current technology doesn’t offer a fully accurate model of Earth’s gravity, we do our job diligently, acknowledging that there’s a higher dimension at play that ultimately guides things towards the right outcome.

AS: To conclude, would you personally cherish the opportunity to travel to space, perhaps to the Moon or Mars?

NS: Absolutely! Witnessing astronauts perform spacewalks or journey to space stations always sparks wonder in me. The sheer thrill of observing Earth from outer space, appreciating its beauty and acknowledging it as our sole home in this vast universe, would be unparalleled. If possible, I wouldn’t limit myself to the Moon – both Mars and beyond beckon me.

UN Rights Experts Welcome Start of ICJ Genocide Hearings, Reiterate Call for Ceasefire

‘South Africa’s case has broader implications for all States – not only those that have ratified the Convention – as all are obligated both to refrain from committing genocide, and to prevent and punish it wherever it occurs.’

South Africa has taken Israel to the UN’s highest court and told the International Court of Justice that Israel was perpetrating genocide in Gaza, backing up its claim with instances of how top Israelis had spoken and how its army was acting in the Palestinian region.

While the proceedings have made news – as have their lack of airtime – UN human rights experts have welcomed the move. The full press release of this is produced below.

UN human rights experts* today welcomed the start of hearings before the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) of a case brought by South Africa concerning allegations that Israel is committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. The experts emphasized that any decision the Court reaches on provisional measures must be respected and implemented by the parties to the dispute, as required by the ICJ Statute.

South Africa on 29 December 2023 asked the ICJ to urgently issue provisional measures ordering Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza and to protect residents from acts of genocide, alleging breaches by Israel of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”). The Genocide Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. The hearings concerning the request for provisional measures will be held on 11 and 12 January at The Hague, in The Netherlands. South Africa’s filing also alleges that Israel is inciting genocide and has failed to prevent genocide.

“ICJ decisions are final, binding, and not subject to appeal. Adherence to any order the Court may make by the parties involved is imperative for protecting the rights of Palestinians and reinforcing the primacy of international law,” the experts said.

“We commend South Africa for bringing this case to the ICJ at a time when the rights of Palestinians in Gaza are being violated with impunity. We call on all States to cooperate with the Court as it interprets the Genocide Convention and to respect the role of the ICJ as an independent court of law.”

The experts also welcomed the statements of support by many States for South Africa’s action in bringing the case to the Court, as well as the principled stand taken by individuals and organizations worldwide that have expressed support for the submission of the case by South Africa.

The experts noted that this is not the first such case. In 2019, for example, The Gambia brought a case against Myanmar under the Genocide Convention to the ICJ, and asked for the Court to issue provisional measures calling for a halt to atrocities against the Rohingya people. The Court issued provisional measures in that case, which is still pending determination before the ICJ.

Both South Africa and Israel have ratified the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as have 151 other States.

“South Africa’s case has broader implications for all States – not only those that have ratified the Convention – as all are obligated both to refrain from committing genocide, and to prevent and punish it wherever it occurs. All States must act together to prevent, halt, and punish genocide,” the experts said.

“The ICJ has in the past made clear that obligations under the Genocide Convention are of an erga omnes nature, meaning that any and all countries have a stake in preventing genocide wherever it is at risk of occurring. This plainly means that uninvolved countries have standing to bring a case like South Africa’s to the ICJ,” the experts explained.

In its application to the Court, South Africa cited numerous statements by UN Special Procedures mandate holders, including the experts’ repeated calls for international action to prevent genocide in Gaza. The mandate holders’ statements reference evidence of genocidal incitement by Israeli Government officials, including a stated intent to “destroy the Palestinian people under occupation”, and calls for a “second Nakba” in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory. These comments by Israeli officials have been made amidst the extensive use by Israel of powerful, often unguided weaponry in Gaza with inherently indiscriminate impacts, severe restrictions on the entry of lifesaving humanitarian aid, and attacks on health care services, all of which have resulted in a devastating death toll, including large numbers of women and children, the forcible transfer of more than half of Gaza’s population, and extensive destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.

Recalling the alarming magnitude and intensity of the bombardments, the experts also reiterated their demand, issued in December 2023 along with other Special Procedure mandate holders, for an immediate ceasefire and a halt to displacement, domicide, and attacks on health infrastructure. The experts further called for immediate action to ensure the unimpeded delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, especially for the sick or injured, persons with disabilities, older persons, pregnant women, and children.

The Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

A Look at China’s Ambitious Spaceplane Missions

In December, China launched its third spaceplane mission, deploying six ‘mysterious wingmen’ into the Earth’s orbit. Currently, these objects are being tracked by the US Space Force.

For some years now China has been making innovative investments in the space domain. Apart from undertaking routine satellite launch missions, the country is undertaking missions which could possibly have both research and military utility. A Chinese spaceplane, dubbed as Shenlong, which is Chinese for ‘Divine Dragon’, is one such mission.

Recently, China launched its third spaceplane mission. Its first spaceplane mission in September 2020 lasted only for two days. The second mission, which started from August 2022 till May 2023, was operational for 276 days.

The third mission was launched on December 19, 2023. However, it’s not known for how many days or years this mission will last. During the ongoing mission, China has deployed six ‘mysterious wingmen’ into the Earth’s orbit, according to reports. Some suggest that these missions could be testing satellite swarm technology.

Spaceplanes are not a new concept. Research and several debates have been held on this subject since the early 1960s. Apart from the US and USSR (now Russia), the UK, France, and Japan have undertaken such missions in experiment mode or as fully operational systems.

A spaceplane could be viewed as a combination of aircraft and spacecraft. It flies (or glides) like an aircraft within the Earth’s atmosphere and operates as a spacecraft in outer space.

It appears that the first two-day mission launched by China was more like a prototype mission, and the second mission, which lasted for around nine months, could have given China the necessary confidence to plan more such missions. During the second mission, the spaceplane performed an orbit-raising maneuver on August 25, 2022. It was in a near-circular 597 by 608-kilometre orbit.

This indicates that China has developed a capability to position a craft in different orbits in a single mission. This reusable craft has been developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

These three missions demonstrate China’s success in developing reusable spaceplane technology and improved capabilities in the arenas like heat shields and landing equipment. Some experts believe that since this plane had demonstrated the capability of very high-speed re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, possibly this could assist China’s hypersonic missile program. However, it is important to mention that China already has a reasonably well-established hypersonic weapons program.

As earlier mentioned, China’s recent spaceplane has deployed six ‘mysterious wingmen’ into the Earth’s orbit. Currently, these objects are being tracked by the US Space Force. For ease of tracking, they have named them as OBJECT A through F.

Some of them are in a similar orbit and are known to have moved closer to each other. Most of them are emitting different types of signals. They are expected to make several close approaches with each other in future. During earlier missions, too, Chinese spaceplanes had released some objects in space, which were also tracked by the US Space Force. Experts believe that this time, the six objects show a different radio behaviour in comparison with the objects released during the earlier two missions.

Possibly, the technology used by China to design and develop these spaceplanes is similar to the Boeing X-37B (the secretive US spaceplane). This craft is a robotic autonomous vehicle and has been in NASA’s service since 2010. NASA and the US Space Force have already undertaken six launches of this vehicle. The US has developed two vehicles in this category and the majority of their missions stayed in space for a period of around two years. The last mission, which got back to Earth during November 2022, was out there for 908 days. These missions were at an orbit of around 400 km.

However, the US administration has been totally silent about the rationale behind undertaking these missions. Possibly, they could have conducted on-orbit science and military-related experiments during the long stay of these crafts in space.

It is obvious that both the US and the Chinese agencies must have gathered a significant amount of atmospheric, space weather-related and reconnaissance data (continuous data sets). Such data could be utilised for the development of various mathematical models. It is known that the worth of various Artificial Intelligence algorithms depends much on data inputs, and therefore, such humongous data could help these nations in fine-tuning their AI-based scientific and military models.

After conducting the anti-satellite test (ASAT) during 2007, China is found to have systematically developed its counter-space program. The messaging behind this test was very clear: China would not hesitate to take the warfare to outer space. After this test, concerns were raised over China’s reckless creation of space debris.

The year 2023 witnessed China undertaking various important space missions. For instance, it invested in some basic technologies which have been in use for centuries, such as high-altitude balloon missions. In early 2023, a Chinese balloon had intruded the US airspace, and in December, a balloon was detected moving across the Taiwan region.

From spaceplanes to balloons, China has been using a range of technologies for reconnaissance, undertaking experimentation (possibly of military relevance) and data generation.

In India, some decades ago, debates were going on in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) circles over the development of a spaceplane and a project called AVATAR (Aerobic Vehicle for Hypersonic Aerospace Transportation). Possibly, the idea was to develop a system for undertaking low-cost military and commercial satellite launches. Satellite swarm technologies have great scientific and strategic potential and now the time has come for India to take the projects like AVATAR to its logical conclusion.

Ajey Lele researches space issues and is the author of the book Institutions That Shaped Modern India: ISRO.

Was Going to Space a Good Idea?

After the Moon, Mars is the next world in line for ‘conquest’. But the question remains. Is space travel enhancing what we value about humanity?

In 1963, six years after the first satellite was launched, editors from the Encyclopaedia Britannica posed a question to five eminent thinkers of the day: “Has man’s conquest of space increased or diminished his stature?” The respondents were philosopher Hannah Arendt, writer Aldous Huxley, theologian Paul Tillich, nuclear scientist Harrison Brown and historian Herbert J. Muller.

Sixty years later, as the rush to space accelerates, what can we learn from these 20th-century luminaries writing at the dawn of the space age?

The state of space 60 years on

Much has happened since. Spacecraft have landed on planets, moons, comets and asteroids across the Solar System. The two Voyager deep space probes, launched in 1977, are in interstellar space.

A handful of people are living in two Earth-orbiting space stations. Humans are getting ready to return to the Moon after more than 50 years, this time to establish a permanent base and mine the deep ice lakes at the south pole.

There were only 57 satellites in Earth orbit in 1963. Now there are around 10,000, with tens of thousands more planned.

Satellite services are part of everyday life. Weather prediction, farming, transport, banking, disaster management, and much more, all rely on satellite data.

Despite these tremendous changes, Arendt, Huxley and Tillich, in particular, have some illuminating insights.

A brave new world

Huxley is famous for his 1932 dystopian science fiction novel Brave New World, and his experimental use of psychedelic drugs.

In his essay, he questioned who this “man” who had conquered space was, noting it was not humans as a species but Western urban-industrial society that had sent emissaries into space.

This has not changed. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty says space is the province of all humanity, but in reality it’s dominated by a few wealthy nations and individuals.

Huxley said the notion of “stature” assumed humans had a special and different status to other living beings. Given the immensity of space, talking of conquest was, in his opinion, “a trifle silly”.

Tillich was a theologian who fled Nazi Germany before the second world war. In his essay, he wrote about how seeing Earth from outside allowed us to “demythologise” our planet.

In contrast to the much-discussed “overview effect”, which inspires astronauts with a feeling of almost mystical awe, Tillich argued that the view from space made Earth a “large material body to be looked at and considered as totally calculable”.

An image of the lunar surface taken by the US Ranger 7 spacecraft in 1964. NASA/JPL-Caltech

When spacecraft began imaging the lunar surface in the 1960s, the process of calculation started for the Moon. Now, its minerals are being evaluated as commodities for human use.

Have humans changed, or is it how we view Earth?

Like Tillich, Arendt left Germany under the shadow of Nazism in 1933. She’s best remembered for her studies of totalitarian states and for coining the term “the banality of evil”.

Her essay explored the relationship between science and the human senses. It’s a dense and complex piece; almost every time I read it, I come away with something different.

In the early 20th century, Einstein’s theory of special relativity and quantum mechanics showed us a reality far beyond the ability of our senses to comprehend. Arendt said it was absurd to think such a cosmos could be “conquered”. Instead, “we have come to our present capacity to ‘conquer space’ through our new ability to handle nature from a point in the universe outside the earth”.

The new geocentrism

The short human lifespan and the impossibility of moving faster than the speed of light mean humans are unlikely to travel beyond the Solar System. There is a limit to our current expansion into space.

When that limit is reached, said Arendt, “the new world view that may conceivably grow out of it is likely to be once more geocentric and anthropomorphic, although not in the old sense of the earth being the center of the universe and of man being the highest being there is.” Humans would turn back to Earth to make meaning of their existence, and cease to dream of the stars.

This new geocentrism may be exacerbated by an environmental problem already emerging from the rapid growth of satellite megaconstellations. The light they reflect is obscuring the view of the night sky, cutting our senses off from the larger cosmos.

The far future

But what if it were technologically possible for humans to expand into the galaxy?

Arendt said assessing humanity from a position outside Earth would reduce the scale of human culture to the point at which humans would become like laboratory rats, studied as statistical patterns. From far enough away, all human culture would appear as nothing more than a “large scale biological process”.

Arendt did not see this as an increase in stature:

The conquest of space and the science that made it possible have come perilously close to this point [of seeing human culture as a biological process]. If they ever should reach it in earnest, the stature of man would not simply be lowered by all standards we know of, but have been destroyed.

Sixty years on, nations are competing to exploit lunar and asteroid mineral resources. Private corporations and space billionaires are increasingly being touted as the way forward. After the Moon, Mars is the next world in line for “conquest”. The contemporary movement known as longtermism promotes living on other planets as insurance against existential risk, in a far future where humans (or some form of them) spread to fill the galaxies.

But the question remains. Is space travel enhancing what we value about humanity? Arendt and her fellow essayists were not convinced. For me, the answer will depend on what values we choose to prioritise in this new era of interplanetary expansion.

This article developed from a panel discussion at the Wheeler Centre. You can listen to it here.

Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘Excessive and Needless’: Veterans on IAF’s Likely Move to Rename Itself ‘Indian Air and Space Force’

‘The IAF’s top brass seem to have taken Rajnath Singh’s generic observation on the military exploitation of space as an order from the government…’

Chandigarh: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to imminently rename itself as the Indian Air and Space Force or IASF, in a move that has appalled a cross-section of senior veterans.

A slew of news reports quoting senior IAF officials disclosed on December 11 that this re-christening proposal was at an ‘advanced’ stage with the Ministry of Defence, following Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s ‘exhortations’ at a routine memorial lecture last year, that the force needed to become an aerospace force to safeguard India from future challenges.

Delivering the 37th Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal Memorial Lecture at New Delhi in May 2022, Singh had declared that the exploitation of space by India’s adversaries for military use, would have an ‘adverse’ effect and one which the country needed to ‘identify and be fully prepared’ to counter. “As students of military affairs and geopolitics, it is our duty to keep anticipating the nature of future wars,” Singh had stated, adding that space was one area that presented the IAF and the military in general, an impending challenge.

The IAF declined to comment on its planned name change.

A ‘firman’

But official sources in the service said there was a ‘growing need’ for the IAF to ‘take ownership of space’ and declare as much in its identity. They also said that the name-change idea had emanated internally as, in an era of competitive claims, the IAF was anxious to better project its intended enhanced capabilities in the space realm.

The IAFs name change, however, would be its third after its founding in October 1932 by the British Colonial administration in Karachi as an auxiliary force of the Royal Air Force (RAF) with six officers and 19 Havai Sepoys or air soldiers. Thereafter, in recognition of its valiant service in WW2 King George VI conferred on it the prefix Royal” on March 12, 1945, rendering it the RIAF. And, in 1950, when India became a republic, the Royal prefix was dropped and it reverted to being simply the IAF and has continued to be so for nearly four generations since, and to the rest of the world as a formidable, albeit familiar fighting force.

“The IAF’s top brass seem to have taken Singh’s generic observation on the military exploitation of space as a firman (order) from the government and furiously activated the proposal to change its name to include space,” said a three-star IAF veteran. It’s quite amazing the depths the service will plumb in order to ‘please’ the country’s political establishment, he fulminated, declining to be named, as he feared his pension payments would be stopped as ‘punishment’ for airing adverse views.

‘Already an aerospace force’

“The IAF is already an aerospace force, and should continue as the IAF, irrespective of the technological advances it absorbs,” said defence analyst Air Marshal V.K. ‘Jimmy’ Bhatia, one of a handful of India’s military officers who agreed to be identified. But if the government or the IAF, or even both, were hell bent on the renaming it could, at best, be re-baptised as the Indian Aerospace Force, he declared. But to rename it as the IASF would be somewhat excessive and needless, added the IAF’s most decorated fighter pilot.

Without elaborating excessively upon the IAF’s fledgling space-related capabilities, which were proliferating incrementally, numerous other considerations need evaluating with regard to its projected name-change. For, other than its overall futility which, in no way, would be a value-addition to the IAFs present standing or operational capability, was the overall cost entailed in such a makeover endeavour.

And though it was admittedly difficult, if not impossible to assess this – and it was highly unlikely if either the MoD or even the IAF for that matter, had even an approximate expenditure in mind – it’s instructive to defer to South African intellectual property rights lawyer Darren Oliver for this purpose.

This innovative attorney had evolved a calculative method or abacus in 2018, when the ruler of Swaziland decided to rename his country as Eswantini, and estimated that the expense incurred in such an undertaking would approximate over $60 million. Oliver’s involved formula, too convoluted to explicate, gained momentary salience in India recently during the G20 summit in September, when there was talk of renaming the country Bharat.

Costs and ‘mere declaration’

At the time financial analysts had pegged the price of this prospective name-change to Bharat at around Rs 14,304 crore. And whilst the price of renaming the IAF would be nowhere as steep, recasting its propositioned IASF moniker, and possibly even a new ensign to supplant the one unveiled in early October, on hundreds of its platforms, bases and innumerable other assets and properties, would be ‘considerable’ in times of enduring fiscal penury and when frugality and force modernisation was the guiding mantra.

Furthermore, changes in uniform badges and letterheads, in addition to myriad other areas, would only add to the cost of what some veterans called a mere ‘dalliance’ or uncalled-for ‘window-dressing’ that had seemingly become the custom in the armed forces in recent years.

“Merely declaring itself to be a space power does not necessarily make the IAF one,” said a former Ministry of Defence official, also requesting anonymity. It has to significantly prove its credentials, he tersely added.

Other unnamed veterans concurred that the IAF was no commercial enterprise that needed to ‘rebrand’ itself in order to endear itself to its principals or customers. One two-star officer even stated that such ‘marketing gimmicks were best suited to a business and certainly not the military. Another speculated that the IAF’s re-branding could, in future, also result in the other two services seeking a name change as their future operational capabilities burgeoned into newer sphere with advanced in technology. There was no end to such absurdity, he remonstrated.

Successive Air Chief Marshals had, in recent years, stressed the importance of the IAF developing offensive and defensive space capabilities, resulting in the creation of a token tri-service Defence Space Agency (DSA) in 2019 headquartered in Bangalore, that also incorporated within itself the Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre in Delhi and the Defence Satellite Control Centre in Bhopal.

Speaking at a seminar in Delhi earlier this year, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhuri declared that defence minister Singh had ‘categorically stated’ that it was time for the IAF to become an ‘aerospace power’ And, with ‘on-demand launch’ of satellites and spacecraft by private and military stakeholders becoming the norm, space had emerged as the ‘ultimate high ground’ for the IAF.

Hence, the IAF had opted to take the path of least development via plans to first proclaim itself a space power through a name-change, and then to secure that capability. The IAF appears to be simply playing at being aspiring boastful achievers.

Understanding the Context and Concerns Over North Korea’s ‘Spy Satellite Launch’

The US, South Korea, and Japan condemned the launch, accusing Pyongyang of using ballistic missile technology in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Can such a maximalist position against North Korea yield anything?

On November 21, North Korea appears to have successfully launched a spy satellite into space. The country’s earlier two attempts to put its first military reconnaissance satellite in orbit had failed. For North Korea, this is a much-desired success. The earlier attempts had taken place during May and August. The way North Korea handled these recent failures and continued to work towards success indicates maturity on the part of the country’s scientific and political leadership.

The North Korean state was unusually honest in accepting its recent failures. No false claims about the success were made, and neither was the world kept in the dark to guess about its intentions. There were no attempts of any false self-glorification. Kim Jong Un may have realised that the process of technology development is difficult and requires patience.

He also appears to have understood that to leap into the space domain, outside assistance is required. Between September 12 and 17, Kim made an official visit to Russia. One of the meetings between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin was at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport. There is both symbolic and strategic significance to the selection of the location and leads one to ask if the recent spy satellite success was assisted by Russia.

Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin before visiting the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Photo: Kremlin.ru/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

History of North Korea’s space programme

For a long time, North Korea, along with Iran, have been accused of using their space programmes for signalling their missile capabilities. However, the way in which North Korea has been undertaking missile testing during the last few years, it is obvious that it does not require any such smokescreen. Today, it is important to judge the North Korean space programme on its merit and the actual rationale behind such investments.

On September 4, 1998, the North Korean authorities claimed the successful launch of their first artificial satellite, Kwangmyongsong-1 (Brightstar-1). Experts, at that time, had opined that the mission was not a success. North Korea is known to have achieved success in putting the satellite into orbit in its fourth attempt on December 1, 2012, and this success earned it the tag of spacefaring state. In 2016, North Korea successfully launched Kwangmyongsong-4 into the Low Earth Orbit or LEO (payload could be around 200 kg).

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s space programme could be viewed as an expansion of its missile programme. The Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST) was established sometime during the 1980s. This agency was responsible for research, satellite manufacture and launching, and managing the country’s rocket launch sites. Subsequently, on April 1, 2013, the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) was established, which has emerged as the DPRK’s central institution to organise all space development projects.

For some time now, North Korea has been focusing its efforts on expanding in the space domain with a focus on military-relevant applications. In 2017, it announced a five-year plan to conquer space. As per this, it had a plan in place for building a satellite communication system by June 2019. However, this has not happened so far and nothing much is known in this regard. During a party congress (January 2021), Kim Jong Un mentioned the proposal for developing military reconnaissance satellites.

On May 31, North Korea’s first attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed. This mission involved the launching of the Malligyong-1 satellite by using the newly developed Chollima-1 rocket. As per North Korea’s news agency, the failure resulted from the low reliability of the new engine system used on the Chollima-1 rocket and the unstable character of the fuel. The second launch undertaken on August 24 failed during the third stage of its flight. The state agency was of the opinion that the failure was due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight and the issue was rectifiable.

Implications for the world

North Korea is a nuclear weapon state. It is advocating its nuclear and missile programmes as formidable pillars of its security architecture. Now space is emerging as a new pillar in this structure. Having operational spy satellites directly or indirectly improves the ‘worth’ of DPRK’s nuclear deterrence mechanism. Pyongyang is open about its space ambitions and argues that it has a ‘sovereign right’ to develop spy satellites to address its security concerns.

Unfortunately, the United States and South Korean administrations are not found working towards any possible inter-Korean rapprochement. Together with Japan, they condemned the launch, which, according to them, used ballistic missile technology in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

It is high time for them to realise that old ideas of sanctions, arms, and export control measures and undertaking military exercises in Korean waters actually mean nothing to a state like North Korea, which is so brazen in its approach. Kim Jong Un understands what such powers have done to Colonel Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein. He is not keen on any reconciliation from the position of weakness.

Ukraine war and Russia’s increasing military needs for artillery shells and other munitions are drawing North Korea closer to Russia. In future, Russia-DPRK-China nexus is likely to emerge as a major nuisance for the US. It is important for the US to realise that taking a maximalist position against North Korea (that they should denuclearise) is not going to help. They need to start a process of constructive engagement. Possibly, space technologies could be a ‘low-hanging fruit’ in this regard. These technologies are dual-use technologies with significant civilian utility.

Today, North Korea needs greater assistance for socioeconomic development. Could the US think of using space technologies as an option in this regard? Some ‘outside the box’ thinking is required to address the North Korean conundrums.

Ajey Lele researches space issues and is the author of the book Institutions That Shaped Modern India: ISRO.