India Moon Landing First On South Pole. It’s a Big Deal.
Key Takeaways
- India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed on the moon this week
- The country is celebrating this win in science and technology
- Scientists and investors around the world are viewing this as a boon for the business of space exploration
On Wednesday, India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole with its Chandrayaan-3 mission. It’s a huge scientific and technological milestone for India, and a global advance in space exploration. Scientists, investors, and enterprising space hobbyists are all looking skyward to see what happens next.
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Why does this moon landing matter?
Yes, moon landings have happened, but we certainly haven’t seen it all yet.
After a failed attempt in 2019, India’s lander with a rover touched down safely on the moon this week. Only the U.S., Russia, and China have landed an unmanned moon mission at all, and India is the only country so far to get to this particular spot: the south pole.
The moon’s south pole interests the scientific community and the private sector because it has water ice. We’ll leave the long explanation to NASA, but water ice could be used to make rocket fuel and provide oxygen and drinking water.
Imagine a future mission or even a more long-term moon settlement. People could drink the water on the south pole, and water can also be split into hydrogen and oxygen. With oxygen comes easier breathing, and oxygen and hydrogen together can make a fuel to get the brave moon visitors back to Earth (or to Mars).
To sum it up: Water ice is a gift that would keep on giving.
What does this mean for the commercialization of space?
India may soon start to results from private sector money in space exploration. S. Somanath, the director of Indian Space Research Organization, sees this point in time as a turning point for the country.
After decades of state funding as the only funding, India’s space programs are opening to private investors. Consider that this Chandrayaan-3 mission happened on a remarkably tight government budget — reportedly on par with the lowest-cost private lunar lander projects in the U.S.
We’ll be watching to see what happens with international investment in India’s space exploration.
Meanwhile, there’s SpaceX (worth an estimated $150 billion) and other big players like Blue Origin, Nokia, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors investing in everything from moon streaming to lunary GPS. Smaller startups are starting to get in on the action as well. Think of it as a business space race of sorts.
The bottom line
We have one recommendation: Watch this space.
Morgan Stanley estimates that by 2040, the potential revenue from the global space industry could surpass $1 trillion. This is an industry that’s trending upward, for sure, though it’s still unclear who the biggest winners will be.
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