India's 1983 Moment

The incredible success of Chandrayaan-3 mission draws on the same playbook of talent and audacity that won India's first cricket World Cup. EPISODE #140

Dear Reader,

A very Happy Monday to you.

Last week was a watershed moment for India and the world. The country’s space institution, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) managed a controlled landing of a lander and a rover on the South Side of the moon.

The success of Chandrayaan-3 is particularly sweet, since the earlier effort ended in failure. But, like they say you have to fail to succeed.

To me it is 1983 all over again. On that occasion, a spunky and talented captain, Kapil Dev, inspired his team mates to a championship—defeating the reigning champions and seemingly invincible West Indies.

The playbook was identical: talent combined with audacity and self-belief. Indian cricket never looked back.

That the moon landing has coincided with a geopolitical reset, one which has left India holding a strong hand, only further amplifies the significance of this development. Everything suggests that India is poised to scale unprecedented highs following the success of the Chandrayaan-3. So this week I explore India’s 1983 Moment.

A big shoutout to Balesh, Gautam, Kapil, Vandana, Sidhartha, Premasundaran, Aashish and Ranjini for your informed responses, kind appreciation and amplification of last week’s column. Once again, grateful for the conversation initiated by all you readers. Gratitude also to all those who responded on Twitter and Linkedin. 

The cover picture is a screen grab from the live telecast by Isro. It shows a tense brains trust of Isro, minutes before the landing.

Unfortunately, Twitter has disabled amplification of Substack links—perils of social media monopolies operating in a walled garden framework. I would be grateful therefore if you could spread the word. Nothing to beat the word of mouth.

Reader participation and amplification is key to growing this newsletter community. And, many thanks to readers who hit the like button😊.

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A tense moment: Isro brains trust, minutes before the landing

Moonshot

'I reached my destination and you too!'
Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon. Congratulations, India!

Almost exactly 40 years ago (25 June, 1983) a motley lot of cricketers led by the indomitable Kapil Dev, pulled the rug from under the feet of the mighty West Indies cricket team and won India its first cricket World Cup.

I remember the moment so vividly. Three of us friends, alternating between radio and a black and white television set (the satellite footprint over India was only partial, denying us a complete coverage of the match on TV), saw India climb out of a hole and pull off the biggest heist in world cup cricket.

The stress that we three were under was identical to the 15 minutes leading to the touchdown by the lander, Vikram (named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space). The cover picture above captures the stress inside the headquarters of Isro or Indian Space Research Organisation.

Significantly, a Russian mission failed just days earlier. Eventually, the touchdown went as planned.

India has become the first nation to land on the South side of the moon and only the fourth nation in the world to pierce the lunar barrier. And now a spot on the moon has an Indian name plate: Shiv Shakti.

There were many parallels between what India pulled off at Lord’s—considered the Mecca of cricket—and the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

To me, as I wrote in the introduction, the playbook was one of talent combined with audacity and incredible self-belief.

And, like then it was a national celebration.

Strategic Advantage

The moon landing is undoubtedly a huge moment for India. It is a fortuitous coincidence that this achievement has occurred right in the middle of a geo-strategic reset and an economic renaissance that is underway in India.

As a regular reader of this newsletter you will be familiar with this makeover. Whether it be the amazing feat about lifting 415 million Indians out of poverty, providing 430 million bank accounts in a world record of seven years, equipping every resident Indian with a 12-digit unique identity that has become an empowering force multiplier in the public digital economy framework that India has authored or the surge in the ranks of the India’s middle class.

It was a happy coincidence that the moon landing happened bang in the middle of a very important meeting of the group of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations. Among other decisions the meeting admitted Argentina, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Egypt into their fold.

Overnight this block has become the most powerful economic grouping in the world. The graphic above shows that even prior to the expansion, the BRICS had overtaken the G7 countries in terms of contribution to global gross domestic product measured in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms.

According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, the BRICS summit viewed India’s achievement in landing Chandrayaan-3 as one for the Global South. Presumably inspired by this response, Prime Minister Modi proposed a BRICS space exploration consortium.

An idea clearly intended to democratise the benefits accruing from the exploration of space.

Addressing 15th BRICS summit, PM Modi said:

“We are already working on the BRICS satellite constellation, but to move a step further, we should think about establishing a BRICS space exploration consortium.”

Later, the foreign secretary explained India’s proposal in a press briefing:

“Look, there is already a BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation which was established by BRICS during India's chairmanship. Space is a domain in which we have been very forward leaning in offering our capacities in a cooperative framework with other countries.

So, for example, India has SAARC satellite which we built essentially for the South Asian Association of Regional Countries. BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the Space Exploration Consortium that we have proposed will essentially take that as a base layer and build on it. Now, obviously, for any such concept to be successful, it has to address the priorities which each of the BRICS countries would have.

So, the relevant working groups of the BRICS which would deal with this would look into this aspect, identify its elements and the space of cooperation in space, in the field of space or space in the field of space is actually so extensive.

It is about how we integrate the capacities in the space with our own economic endeavors. This can be a very, very promising area of cooperation and something in which, as I said, India has always been forward leaning in terms of offering its capacities.”

Democratising the Cislunar Economy

Growing up I was a big fan of the television series Star Trek, which used to air on national television. This fascination never left me. So, decades later, I even dragged a reluctant friend to the sale of Star Trek memorabilia in Harlem in 2006.

Their tag line used to always blow me away: A mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Somehow space exploration has always remained the preserve of a few nations, mostly the richest. India bucked this trend with Isro.

For most of its tenure, Isro has been hobbled by lack of resources and weaving its way around global sanctions sponsored by the Western block of nations. But somehow they always did find a way; an excellent example is the indigenous development of the cryogenic engine to power the rockets.

The remarkable thing about Isro has been its constant evolution. Though, entirely owned by the government, it somehow managed to create a work culture that inspired innovation. More recently it has begun to share its expertise to expand the ecosystem for space business to include the private sector.

I wrote about this pivot just under a year ago. Sharing the link below, if you wish to read it again.

One aspect of space exploration is the study of the moon, which orbits the earth and potential exploitation of the resources located there as well as in the space lying between the earth and the moon—cislunar economy.

For example, experts believe that there are large quantities of Helium-3—used as fuel for nuclear-fusion reactors—present on the moon. Similarly, it is believed that water exists on the moon—something that Chandrayaan-3 will explore.

It is not just countries, several companies too are exploring the moon.

This include Space-X, owned by Elon Musk, which is looking to extend its path-breaking reusable rockets idea to reusable spacecraft to transport people and cargo to the moon.

Check out the video below:

Clearly, it is not just about Chandrayaan-3 enabling India’s entry into an elite club of nations.

Instead it is about exploring frontiers of which little is known about. Moreover, the process of exploring these frontiers will generate technologies and insights that are very much applicable to improving lives and livelihood on earth.

Further, India’s proposal at the BRICS summit in South Africa to create a global consortium to explore space kills two birds with one stone. It seeks to end the hegemony of a few nations. Instead, it seeks to democratise access to the business of space.

Which is why the success of Chandrayaan-3 should be celebrated by the world. India is attempting what no country has ever dared to do before.

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Recommended Viewing/Reading

Sharing the latest post of Capital Calculus on StratNews Global.

Last month retail inflation surged to a 10-month high of 7.4%. A closer look at it reveals that this spike is on account of food items, particularly tomatoes. Exactly why it has prompted some to dub this as tomatoflation.

To look beneath the hood as it were, we spoke to Dharmakirti Joshi or DK, chief economist, Crisil. There were several takeaways from the conversation, including that volatility in prices, particularly of food items, will be par for the course and that as the Indian economy grows so will its complexity—making its management that much more difficult.

Sharing the link below. Do watch and share your thoughts.

Till we meet again next week, stay safe.