Instead of decrying the edge China has achieved over India, it is important to critically evaluate the actual benefits that accrue from manned space flights and the Space Station.
China’s development of a space station is not only for the purpose of scientific experimentation but also to showcase its technological and economic strength.
The larger issue which the GSAT-12 launch brings to the fore is that of the mounting demand for satellite transponders and India’s capabilities in this regard.
The US is stopping the shuttle programme by design and not for want of technology or money; nor does discontinuing the space shuttle indicate that the US has lost the space race.
With the successful sixteenth flight of the PSLV-C16, the “feel good” factor has returned to ISRO which was buffeted by failures and controversy over the last year.
On the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight, the space scenario appears to be at a crossroads. Because of the economic and other geopolitical compulsions, major powers are found trading cautiously.
The 21st century may not hold the same strategic logic of the 1960s and 1970s towards discovering outer space. Over a period of time, particularly after the end of the Cold War, space appears to have lost some, if not all, of its strategic significance. During 2004, the then US president, George W. Bush, had argued that the 21st century moon exploration initiative by the US should be viewed as part of a journey and not a race. Mostly, the peaceful voyage of global activities in space got a jolt when China conducted an anti-satellite test (ASAT) during January 2007.
