Russia stumbles and India triumphs in new space race
It's been a big week for the modern day space race.
What’s this? Talking about space on a geography Substack newsletter? Yes! Because while space is, of course space and that would fall outside the bounds of the “geo” part of geography, the players involved are very much tied to a larger geographic and geopolitical story: the modern day space race. And it just so happens that today’s article ties in quite well with the two-part podcast series Hunter and I recorded on the Cold War and modern day space race.
Anyway, if you’re not all caught up on what’s happening up there, two important events occurred this week. The first is that Russia’s Luna-25 probe failed completely, followed shortly thereafter by India’s Chandrayaaan-3 rover successfully landing on the south pole of the moon, a world’s first. So let’s talk a bit about why this is so important.
India is not a new player in the space race
Before we get to anything else, I thought it would do India the respect the country deserves by first covering their efforts in space exploration. Too often space has been defined as a bi-polar affair: the United States and NASA on one end and Russia/Soviet Union’s Roscosmos on the other end. Today you could probably say the story has grown to be tri-polar with China’s CNSA as well. Regardless, India and many other space agencies around the world, are frequently tossed to the side in conversations. But many, including India, have been at this for quite a while!
India’s space aspirations began in the early 1960s when Indian scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai saw the potential of space technology for a developing nation, outside the bounds of the Cold War. And with the founding of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962, the gears of progress were set in motion for the country. But it would be a few more years before their modern day space agency would be founded.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO as we commonly know it today, was officially founded in 1969. From there, the pace picked up considerably for India. Aryabhata, India's first satellite, took flight in 1975, and SLV-3, the first Indian-made rocket, launched in 1980. These were proud moments, showing the world what India could achieve.
As the years rolled on, so did the innovations. The 1990s saw the successful deployment of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), an absolute game-changer. This was the beginning of India's commercial space venture, attracting clients from around the globe.
But ISRO had bigger dreams: the Moon and beyond. Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 was India's first mission to the Moon. It was an unqualified success, discovering water molecules on the lunar surface. Mars was next, and in 2013, the Mangalyaan mission did what few thought possible, reaching the Red Planet in a maiden attempt, and all on a budget that turned global heads.
The recent years have only seen more triumphs, from Chandrayaan-2 and now Chandrayaaan-3 to even more ambitious plans for manned missions to the moon. And if India has proven anything over the last five decades, it’s that they are confident, competent, and successful when it comes to getting things into space.
What is the modern day space race?
You may be asking yourself right now if there even is a space race at all. I mean, that’s Cold War stuff right? While it is true that the Cold War space race is often thought of as the only space race, in the last decade or two, things have started to heat up a bit in the area. Through the 1990s and into the early 2000s it seemed like NASA, the European Space Agency, Roscosmos, and many other global space partners were less interested in competing and more interested in cooperating. But as China ascended into wealth and prominence in the world, and Russia turned its back on the west once again, a new geopolitical space dynamic has evolved over the last few years. As such, we’ve seen a renewed effort to get humans on the moon first… again!
As with the Cold War space race, the modern day space race is really starting to break down along two sides (and again, if you want even more information about all this I talk about it at length in the podcast episode): the United States lead effort and the China lead effort.
The United States and NASA by way of the Artemis Program — also known as the Goddess of the Moon! — is aiming to bring people back to the Earth’s largest satellite this decade with a full lunar base established sometime next decade. This is being done in partnership with Europe’s ESA, Germany’s DLR, Japan’s JAXA, Canada’s CSA, Israel’s ISA, and Italy’s ASI space agencies. So quite an eclectic group of space agencies!
Meanwhile, China is leading a competing effort called the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (also known as the Chang’e Project). And while they have similar aspirations as Artemis as well as a slightly delayed timeline, they’ve also been making headway in accomplishing their goals. And like with Artemis, China has a few partners in Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and, as of very recent news, South Africa.
But India, once again and true to its roots as a being non-aligned, has gone at it alone… and they’ve been a pretty huge success the entire way! The Chandrrayaan Programme, also known as the India Lunar Exploration Program, has now landed three unmanned vehicles on the moon with a fourth, in partnership with Japan’s JAXA, scheduled for sometime between 2026-2028. And based on recent results, it has a strong likelihood of being a success.
How it all ties back to geography
At its heart, the very nature of all of this is very geopolitical. In a similar vein as the Cold War space race, the modern day space race is really about proving that “your side” is the technologically superior side. Which means while the accomplishments are way up there on the moon, the rewards, boasting and accomplishments are all felt down here on Earth.
Which is why Russia’s failure this week is so, relatively, important. For a long time (15-ish years?), NASA was beholden to Russia to get its astronauts to space and back because the Space Shuttle program had shut down. This was an embarrassing look for the world’s most prominent space agency and Russia definitely played it up as general relations between the two countries began to sour. Russia’s failure, while definitely a disappointment to the scientists who worked very hard on it as well as for space exploration enthusiasts around the world, was a bit of a reprieve for NASA that is now starting to function as a proper space agency once again.
But more than that, I think that India’s efforts in this arena proves that space isn’t just for the elite few of the world. While India is certainly not a poor country, though its per capita wealth is quite low, it’s definitely not as wealthy as the United States and China. And the fact that they’ve been nearly matching them in terms of lunar exploration is quite the accomplishment.
If Argentina had remained wealthy and stable to this day, then its space agency might also be a partner space agency in the Artemis program.