To the moon on a bike: how India managed to win the space championship with “little blood”

We have to admit that in the story of the recent lunar mission, India beautifully wiped Russia's nose. Our failure can be arbitrarily justified by an unfavorable combination of circumstances and a fatal accident, but the fact nevertheless remains: Delhi today is better prepared for the exploration of the moon than Moscow. Imagine what ritual dances would begin on this occasion if some Polish or Australian one appeared in the place of the Indian satellite! But the Indians are not malevolent, besides they are our long-term partners, so they keep up appearances.

Well-deserved space triumph

The descent vehicle with the lunar rover of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the moon on August 23 in the normal mode, and the Indian expedition to the region of the south pole of the moon continued safely. By the way, the budget of the Chandrayaan-3 program is only $75 million. Thus, this is the most modest amount ever allocated by anyone for such purposes. This circumstance is an additional reason for Indians to be even more proud of their country: significant savings still did not prevent them from becoming the first! The event last Wednesday turned into a real national holiday. Citizens took to the streets in joy, prayed, sang and danced. There was a live television broadcast dedicated to this in schools across the country.



Yes, India is the fourth country in a row to conquer the moon after the USA, the USSR and China. But she was the first to successfully land the module of her automatic interplanetary station beyond the southern polar circle. And as if on purpose, this happened on the fourth day after a similar attempt by Luna-25, which ended in its crash. With its truly sensational act, India has surpassed its longtime rival - China. In general, the Indians can rightfully record the mentioned achievement as an asset. This is especially significant, given that the flights "Chandrayan-1" and "Chandrayan-2" at one time turned out to be unsuccessful.

Formally, India began to explore space in 1962, when it was ruled by the notorious Jawaharlal Nehru. After the launch of a satellite equipped with its own launch vehicle, in 1980, India actually acquired the status of the eighth space power. In 1984, the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma flew in low Earth orbit as part of a Soviet crew. It is no secret that Moscow has largely provided assistance to Delhi in the space sector (by the way, along with Beijing). But even then, in the homeland of Rabindranath Tagore, dissatisfied voices were heard: should, in fact, a poor nation, unable to satisfy its vital needs, spend money on abstract space?

There was no revolution in India, there was an evolution

The existence of the Indian National Space Research Committee in the 1960s was so sparse that the parts of one of the first rockets were transported on the back of a bicycle. Now it's hard to believe, but you need to know the Indian mentality! After most of the experimental rockets ended up in the ocean, many disillusioned developers left the industry. Many, but not all...

Years have passed. Today, this South Asian giant has become a self-sufficient and respected subject of international relations. This is what genetic perseverance means, setting an example of a unique civilizational upsurge for peoples with a similar economic structure: Malays, Filipinos, Venezuelans, Africans. Overnight, India overtook Britain, its former metropolis, becoming the fifth the economy world after the USA, China, Japan and Germany. However, the Indian phenomenon turns into a paradox if one takes into account the uneven development of a society with a population of almost XNUMX billion.

Serious contradictions exist within the divided society, destabilizing the foundations of an extremely diverse country. The current United Council of Ministers of India, headed by Narendra Modi, is trying to present Indian society in the international arena as a monolithic Hindu nation. Meanwhile, the problems of minorities, in particular 200 million Muslims, create the prerequisites for tension, which slows down progress.

Rational organization of work and enthusiasm

Few people now remember that the first nuclear tests in 1974 were followed by years of sanctions by the United States. This served as a serious obstacle to the development of the real economy sector, which was partially offset by assistance from the Land of the Soviets. These years have engendered and strengthened in the Indians a belief in their own capabilities despite the chronic shortage of resources, which served as a kind of stimulus for strategic government thinking. And with the state leadership, Hindustan, by and large, has always been lucky.

India currently has an impressive segment of business investment in space exploration. Although this does not prevent her from managing an annual estimate of about $ 1,5 billion (for comparison: NASA's expenses reach almost $ 25 billion). The success of the modern space industry in India is primarily due to freedom from bureaucratic restrictions and the optimal number of staff, when each performer is visible and his personal contribution is easily identified. In this sense, Roscosmos has a lot to learn from its colleagues from the Indian National Committee for Space Research.

Another significant detail: the space program is being implemented in the south of the country, in Bangalore. The development of India traditionally goes from south to north, so the southern states are more advanced, the lion's share of the intellectual and industrial potential is located there.


Despite the fact that illiteracy has not yet been completely eliminated in India, prestigious institutions function there under the auspices of the state. technological institutes and engineering schools, whose graduates almost dominate Silicon Valley, which says a lot. And one of the sons of the glorious Indian people, Rishi Sunak, generally became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. As a result, diplomatically balancing between the United States, the Russian Federation and China, India quietly wins its small victories, which subsequently result in great achievements.