Editor-in-Chief of Eurasian Info, Nitin M. J. Tiku wrote: "If you compare the development trajectory of China-India air stations, you will find that India has always targeted China and is pressing forward step by step. In 1964, China successfully completed its first nuclear test. In 1974, India completed its first nuclear test in 10 years. In 2007, China launched the Chang'e-1 artificial satellite. The following year, India completed the launch of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe. ”
There is even talk of claiming that by 2030, India will have space stations built with indigenous technology. Is this a gimmick, or is it really powerful?
Once India: The Nobody in the Space Industry
Although everything is difficult at the beginning, the ambition to catch up with China has laid the groundwork from the first appearance. In recent decades, Indian space research has had a consistent goal, which is to benchmark China and surpass China.
1962 was a difficult year for India's space industry. In just 3 years, Indian aerospace technology has shown extraordinary vitality, not only establishing the ISRO Space Research Organization that has been running so far, but also equipped with a research team of more than 10,000 people to ensure the orderly and synchronous advancement of communication satellites, launch vehicles and other fields.
In the 1970s, India completed the development of the first satellite "Ayebodo", because it had not yet mastered the core technology of satellite delivery, it had to use the Soviet Launch Vehicle to send it into space.
So, India's aviation industry had a difficult start from 0 to 1, thanks in large part to the Soviet Union. Coupled with the continuous riveting efforts to improve the level of research and development, the Indian government has also attached great importance to it and has continuously invested human and financial resources. By the 1980s, India's aerospace technology prowess could not be underestimated. Even if there was a technical error in the first independent rocket launch of the satellite, the Indian scientific research team was never discouraged and still rose to catch up. In 2003, India successfully launched two series of rocket launches, directly joining the ranks of international communication satellite powers.
India, once the no-name pawn of the space industry, is making its debut in a unique way.
A dark horse: a rising star in the space industry
Once they have gained a firm foothold, they will decisively jump into the fast lane of accelerated development, and the gap between India and China will also be visibly narrowed step by step.
In 2008, while the Chinese Olympic Games were successfully held, India's space industry also pulled enough engine and full horsepower. The "one arrow and ten stars" were successfully launched, and the "Lunar Ship 1" lunar mission was completed in one go, and this breakthrough has aroused waves in the international space community.
India is like a "latecomer", after tasting the sweetness, it can't wait to stage an "aviation miracle".
In 2013, India completed the development of a Mars rover for the first time, five years shorter than originally planned. In 2014, the Mars rover entered orbit steadily, making India the first country in the world to successfully enter orbit after its first attempt. In 2017, India completed the launch of "one arrow and 104 stars" with a rocket developed with local technology, which broke the world launch record, and India's space technology was directly famous internationally. The GSLV Mk III rocket developed in 2018 even successfully put a communication satellite weighing up to 3 tons into orbit; followed by the successful launch of the second lunar probe in 2019.
Similar to China, India's struggling R&D path to Mars exploration is almost always local R&D, which also allows India to save a lot of money and create the most economical Mars exploration project in history. In addition, India's manned spacecraft have also made rapid progress in the form of "open plug-ins" and attempted to successfully catch up with China's space industry with the same acceleration.
The secret behind the space rookie
It is curious to know how India has jumped from a no-name to a world-class development camp in just a few decades?
First, thanks to Dr. Vikram's push. Without any external support, he led "the first space researchers" to establish India's first launch base: the Dunbar Space Center. Since then, India's space industry has begun to sprout. Unfortunately, Dr. Vikram died of overwork and did not see the exciting scene of India's successful rocket launch.
Second, India's space research is completely independent of the military, which also allows India to cooperate directly with world-class technology projects and be supported by the latest high-tech technology. Unlike China and the United States, which have missiles and then launch vehicles, India has taken a strange trajectory with satellites and then launch vehicles. This way of jumping on the shoulders of predecessors has directly shortened the progress of India's space industry by nearly a decade, which can be described as a perfect shortcut.
In addition, India attaches great importance to costs, and the government has adopted a strategy of unified leadership, which has trained a large number of aviation talents and saved a lot of money. This has given India, which was not strong enough in economic strength, the capital to fight a "protracted war".
In April 2021, China's Long March 5 was launched, and the successful completion of this mission indicates that the research and development of the continental space station has officially started. India immediately followed by declaring that it was bound to catch up with China within three years and build a larger space station than China by 2030.
Catching up with the super, or falling prematurely?
The overall score of India's space capability assessment in 2017 was 22.17 points, ranking sixth in the world. With a series of iconic events that are "stunning to the world", India has skillfully made its aviation technology continue to sensationalize the world, and has become a rookie in the development of international aviation with a light attitude. But it is undeniable that india's aviation industry may have the pathological characteristics of "expansionary development".
Behind the miraculous achievements of India's space flight, it may only be a "gorgeous coat".
From the perspective of comprehensive technical level, the real level of India's aerospace is at best only in the "second echelon of the world", and most of the eye-catching aerospace achievements have hitched a ride on the core technologies of other countries, thus cleverly covering up the fact that the core technologies are insufficient. For example, India's design plan for the Mars rover chose to borrow the international mature program at the beginning, and "preemptively" entered the orbit around Mars in the form of light rockets and mature technology, easily bypassing the key technical threshold.
In 2017, India's multiple satellite launch tests were only close to the level of the Soviet Union in the 60s and 70s of the last century, and in addition to the US GPS, the Soviet Union GLONASS (GLONASS), China's BDS (Big Dipper) satellite launch technology has ranked third in the world, which is an indisputable fact that it has given India, which is trying to surpass China, a fatal blow!
From the comprehensive level of aerospace technology, India is far inferior to China in a number of technologies and standards.
In 2018, China's total number of space launches reached 39, ranking first in the world, while India had only 7. In terms of the scale of researchers, the scale of space launches, and the level of comprehensive technology, India is still out of reach. In addition, India also has a visible "hard wound" in financial support, in order to stabilize the finances, the authorities decisively reduced 100 billion space scientific research funds, directly "waist" the dream of promoting the manned space program on schedule, and properly poured a basin of ice water!
In this way, india's space industry from introspection to breakthrough, completely different ways, is indeed amazing. However, the lack of core launch technology and sufficient financial support to try to bypass the core technology and jump into the world's leading fast lane have made the shortcomings of Indian space technology more obvious.
Perhaps, only by recognizing the reality, developing steadily, and studying the core technology like China, the construction of the air station in 2030 may not become just a farce in India.
Resources
Understanding India's Space Development: A Prestige-Motivated Perspective, Xiang Chen (Center for China Peripheral Security and Cooperation, Central China Normal University), Asia-Pacific Security and Ocean Research, 2018-03.
Indian Aerospace: "Latecomers" Chase Dreams, Mu Xiaoming, Looking at the World, 2020-06-05.
Overview of India's Aerospace Technology Development and Its Main Experience, Huang Zhicheng (Beijing Institute of Systems Engineering), International Technological and Economic Research, 2002-05-02.
Assessment of India's Space Capability Development, He Huidong (Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information), International Space, 2018-12.
China's manned space project enters the era of space station, Xiao Jianjun and Qi Xiaojun, International Space, 2018-10.
Space Science and Application Mission of Continental Space Station, Gao Ming, Zhao Guangheng, Gu Yidong, Journal of chinese Academy of Sciences, 2015-30-06.
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