FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In 2000, when Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa came to the newsroom and said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had plans to launch a mission to the moon, I with my usual journalistic cynicism took a bet with him that it would never happen. It took eight years for ISRO to fulfil its dream of putting an Indian signature on the moon—in 2008, the Chandrayaan mission sent an orbiter around the moon, had a Moon Impact Probe detach from it and crashland on the surface. In doing so, India became only the fifth country to put an unmanned probe on the moon. I was happy to lose the bet to Raj, which was a bottle of champagne, as nothing lifts India’s spirits more than a global achievement. ISRO has done India proud. Despite the constraints of being a governmentowned organisation, it has delivered consistently, building wideranging capability that is worldclass in both satellites and launchers. It even sent a mission to Mars, with its spacecraft orbiting the red planet in its first attempt in 2013.
Across the world, major developments in space technology have seen the entry of private players in the arena, in particular US billionaire Elon Musk, whose Space X has successfully built launchers, even reusable ones. For the first time, an Indian enterprise, TeamIndus, has entered the most exciting competition in space for a private entity to land a spacecraft on the moon and have a robot probe its surface. Having already won $1 million for the best designed lunar lander for Google’s Lunar X prize, TeamIndus is now one of the five finalists in the race to claim the $20 million grand prize and become the first privatelyfunded team to land a robot on the moon, make it travel over 500 metres and transmit high definition images and videos.
It’s a story that mirrors the aspirations of New India. Formed in 2011, TeamIndus is a group of young entrepreneurs who gave up regular jobs for a shot at the moon. Starting a company called Axiom Research Labs Pvt. Ltd in Bengaluru, they built a team of 100 youngsters with the average age of 26. They also roped in retired ISRO scientists associated with the Chandrayaan mission. This group of moon believers is racing to meet the December 2017 deadline and has attracted funds from private Indian donors. TeamIndus estimates it needs Rs 450 crore for the launch. From April 12 onwards, it is launching a crowdfunding drive called
Har Indian Ka Moonshot, asking for Rs 500 each from 1.5 million Indians that would net them about Rs 75 crore. They expect more to come in from other sources—competition rules say 90 per cent of their funds must come from private sources and does not permit concessional deals from the government or its agencies.
Chengappa and Group Photo Editor Bandeep Singh spent some time with the team at the complex and narrate the remarkable story of this unique venture in this week’s cover story. While originally there were 16 competitors, the field has narrowed down to five. Apart from TeamIndus, there is a Japanese team, an American, an Israeli and an international consortium of private entrepreneurs. Says Chengappa, “Their enthusiasm and confidence are infectious. You get that nothingisimpossible feeling.” Whether they succeed or not, it is a shining example of the vaulting ambition and spirit of enterprise of India’s youth. Plus their belief that they can compete with the best in the world. This venture will inspire many others in India to have audacious goals, which is why we have chosen to put this unusual story on our cover.
This time I am betting TeamIndus will succeed. What about you?