India to land on Moon by 2020

India is now hoping to land on the Moon, and if that happens, more than pride is on the line. India has cut its operational costs drastically, and achieved a lot. The economics of space flight could be about to get a lot more rational.

This may well have something to do with China’s rising involvement in space, but in terms of the business end of things, this could be a big boost for India’s huge computer and IT industries, too. If it works, it’s all good news for India. The US has been making a habit of costing itself out of space, and Russia hasn’t actually been doing much real space work apart from acting as a facilitator. China and India, however, have been catching up fast on their achievements. The Moon mission is currently conceptual, but India has proven what it can do with Chandrayaan 1, the recent triumph of a lunar orbit, on a par with China’s moon mission. There's absolutely no doubt India is capable of a lunar landing. Moon Daily, which is a bit short on detail, says the preliminary to this big leap for about 20% of the human race is a manned space flight using all-Indian technology, Indian built. This is part of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) comprehensive program, from which other space programs could learn a lot. If you have a look at the press releases page on the ISRO site, you’ll see a list of scientific and commercial work which looks like exactly what it is: A space program which is paying for itself to a respectable extent. The new element opens up other avenues for India to exploit its hugely successful IT industry performance far beyond the basics, and move into competition with the big IT heavyweights. The sky is no longer the limit and this isn’t going to be old information about the Moon. The market for data is likely to be huge. Now the icing on what’s turning into a very big cake: An Indian mission to Mars before 2020 is also planned. That would have caught a few people napping. I don’t think anyone knew India was able to do that. If so, it might actually be the kick in the butt needed to get the US taking its big space science seriously. The assumption of superiority hasn't been doing anyone too many favors lately. With any luck, the increased competition from China, India, and the European Space Agency might get the US space program out of that financial ditch it seems to be determined to die in with such regularity.