India in the Second Space Age of Interplanetary Connectivity

This volume discusses the emergence of space exploration as a new pivot of the global space economy in the decade of 2020s. Space exploration and human spaceflight will soon become vital strategic initiatives in the imminent second space age, evolving from scientific pursuits to mega-economic projects. As the scope of international cooperation in space forays into soft science diplomacy, the second space age opens opportunities for India to mount its space program as an ambitious yet conscientious, proficient, and cordial player in the global space economy. This book, — Explores imminent trends in space exploration and interplanetary connectivity plans, their returns to the global economy of the future, and impact on the global astropolitical order; — Analyses the techno-economic significance of India’s space exploration by reviewing the legal, ethical and philosophical challenges; the limits of global space exploration policies; and the economic lacunae for the astropolitical gains; — Examines the transformational trio of Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and Gaganyaan; dawn of the second space age; interplanetary connectivity projects; besides discussing the viability of humans becoming an interplanetary species. Part of The Gateway House Guide to India in the 2020s series, this topical volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, geopolitics, foreign policy, space policy, South Asian studies, strategic studies, and international trade.

1. Introduction 2. India and a Brief History of Time in Space Exploration 3. Dawn of the Second Space Age 4. The Global Planetary Exploration Roadmap: Cooperation and Contest 5. Plugging India into Interplanetary Connectivity Projects 6. The Economics of Interplanetary Connectivity 7. The Second Half of the 21st Century: Will Humans become Interplanetary Species? 8. Conclusion

Chaitanya Giri is the Fellow of Space and Ocean Studies at Gateway House: Indian Council for Global Relations, India. His researches on techno-geostrategy, analyses of space industrial complex, space exploration policy, and planetary and astromaterials science. He is an affiliate scientist at the Earth-Life Science Institute at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry specializing in astrochemistry space payloads from the Université Côte d’Azur, France. At the same time, he was a doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany. He was the co-investigator of the COSAC payload on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. His research has earned him several fellowships and awards, including the 2014 Dieter Rampacher Prize of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Science, Germany, and the 2016-2018 ELSI Origins Network Fellowship at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Chaitanya consults India’s strategic agencies and reviews India’s science and technology diplomacy, and delivers talks at various academic and non-academic institutions in India and abroad.