Book Excerpt - Eye On The Stars: PM Modi's Championing Of The Space Sector

Space as the next frontier has perhaps dominated the discourse of Mann Ki Baat over the years. The early emphasis on space received tremendous boost, with the Mars Mission capturing global attention on how 'frugal' innovations from India had ensured an entry to the global club that included a handful of nations. To PM Modi, every space launch was a reason to reinforce the importance of technology in everyday life, and a reason to remind and motivate his young listeners to make science a part of their DNA.

The sky and stars have always enthralled children. Our Space Program provides an impetus to the children to think big and reach across those boundaries, which were considered impossible till today. It is a vision to inspire the children to discover new stars, while gazing at them!

The impact of linking curiosity about space to fire the imagination of young minds was visible as early as June 2016 with students of the College of Engineering, Pune, designing an academic satellite. Giving them competition was SATHYABAMASAT, designed by the students of Sathyabama University of Chennai. Both of these were part of multiple satellites launched simultaneously by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which was fast developing a niche for low-cost space technologies and opening up its services to other countries.

By February 2017, the ISRO's capacity for multi-satellite launches had crossed the hundred-satellite threshold, with the US, Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates (UAE) availing the ISRO's commercial launch services. From highlighting the role of women scientists in the development of Cartosat-2D to the impact of South Asia Satellite on developmental priorities of the neighbourhood, Mann Ki Baat proved to be a consistent champion of the Indian space sector, keeping up the morale of the scientists while inspiring and motivating aspiring space innovators. The students' enthusiasm over space technology development in India continued to grow with recent innovations like Kalamstat and sounding rockets as well as the use of NavIC by fishermen, (an indigenously developed navigation system in January 2019), which was celebrated by Mann Ki Baat. Dwelling on the developmental impact of space technology, PM Modi, in the January 2019 episode of the programme, shared critical statistics on how space technology was contributing to the economic development, apart from improving the delivery and accountability of government services. For instance, the Housing for All Mission involves geotagging of about 40 lakh homes spread over 23 states. Along with this scheme, about 3 crore 5 lakh properties under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) 2005 were also tagged.

In spite of the mixed success of India's Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, PM Modi made very important points about the risks associated with experimentation and the need to never give up hope despite obstacles and stumbling blocks. He counted faith and fearlessness as the two great lessons from the mission, which was entirely the product of Indian innovation and scientific endeavour. Drawing life lessons from the mission for his young listeners, PM Modi spoke about how temporary setbacks are a fact of life and that the strength to overcome these setbacks, resides inwards.

Six months later, PM Modi took to airwaves to look ahead from Chandrayaan-2 to rally the nation towards a solar mission in the future. From envisioning Gaganyaan to putting a human in space and motivating students to develop a deeper understanding of space technology through the ISRO's Yuvika programme by 2022, PM Modi's tryst with India's space programme culminated in the ultimate goal of spawning space start-ups in India. With a progressive policy in place to open up the sector to private enterprises, in his nine years as the PM of India, he has enabled the tremendous expansion of the ISRO's commercial capabilities as well as, the beginning of an Indian space industry with the launch of IN-SPACe and the emergence of space start-ups like Agnikul, Skyroot and Dhruva Space.

As a sign of how inclusive India's efforts at opening up the space sector were, Mann Ki Baat turned the spotlight on Tanveer Ahmed's work at Digantara on mapping space junk and Neha Satak's work at Astrome on developing low-cost flat antennas. With 750 school students working on 75 experimental satellites, the story of Tanvi Patel from Mehsana in Gujarat epitomized the spirit of Mann Ki Baat, inspiring girls to dream big and aim for the stars. Prime Minister Modi summed up the societal and national impact of space reforms most eloquently in June 2022:

Friends, these are the same youth, in whose mind the image of the space sector was like a secret mission a few years ago, but, the country undertook space reforms, and the same youth are now launching their own satellites./ When the youth of the country is ready to touch the sky, how can our country be left behind.

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