Launching an array of 104 satellites into space over the course of 18 minutes is no mean feat — but the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has gained attention in recent years for staging successful missions at very low cost. The record launch on Wednesday of the satellites from Sriharikota were a high-risk event — released in rapid succession from a single rocket as it travelled at more than 27,000km per hour, each satellite could easily have collided with one another if ejected into the wrong path. Its success therefore not only establishes India as a key player in the commercial segment for space-based communication and surveillance industry, but also showcases the prowess of its space research technology.
In 2014, India had sent a spacecraft to Mars for $74 million (Dh272.17 million), a fraction of the $671 million the United States had spent on a Mars mission that same year. However, the commercial race for space is much more than benchmarking the capacity of nano-satellite launches. There are a variety of reasons why governments and companies around the world are seeking to gain a quick foothold in space. These range from gathering information on climate, topography and defence to tracking ships for illegal fishing and piracy, conducting microgravity experiments or simply feeding the ever-growing appetite for phone and internet communications.
The proliferation of cost-effective and reliable space technology is a harbinger of great change across the world, impacting every aspect of our lives. But such change also comes with its share of enormous responsibility — those seeking to be space pioneers must ensure that their efforts contribute to creating an era of hope and progress for mankind, rather than littering space with floating debris.
