ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 27th May. Click Here for more information.
Source: The post is based on the article “Lessons from our lunar landing go far beyond science” published in Live Mint on 29th August 2023.
Syllabus: GS 3 – Science and Technology
Relevance: Lessons from Chandrayaan-3’s success
News: Recently, India became the first country to land on the south polar region of the moon. This achievement has a lot of lessons to offer for everyone.
What are the lessons provided by the success of Chandrayaan-3?
Frugality: The success of Chandrayaan-3 emphasizes the benefits of limited budgets in promoting innovation and sustainability. This approach can also be applied to various sectors.
India’s lunar success proves that frugality and high ambition can go hand in hand.
Learning from Failure: Chandrayaan-2 and -3 failures taught scientists to enhance Chandrayaan-3, especially the lunar landing approach. US Apollo missions also succeeded through learning from failures.
India’s government and private sector could greatly benefit from adopting this lesson to achieve significant rewards.
Preparedness and Planning: Chandrayaan-3 landed a minute early. This approach, characterized by learning from failure, thorough planning, simulation, monitoring, should be embraced by Indian companies, state governments, and the Union government.
Resourceful Supply Chain Management: Chandrayaan project managers reduced costs by using local substitutes. For example, Tamil Nadu’s anorthosite rock was used to resemble lunar soil, which replaced expensive imported rocks.
This practice offers India Inc. the chance to benefit from affordable and accessible alternatives.
Partnerships: ISRO collaborated with various governments (BHEL, Keltron, Kerala Minerals, etc.) and private institutions (L&T, Godrej & Boyce, etc.) to make this mission successful.
Therefore, partnering with vendors with effective coordination, design, and collaboration can yield significant advantages.
International Collaboration: International collaboration has been integral to India’s space program.
India’s desirability as a partner for Western nations has increased due to the emergence of strategic challenges posed by space efforts from China and Russia.
Collaborations with Nasa, Jaxa, ESA, and Roscosmos have strengthened India’s missions, showing the benefits of mutual interdependence.
Watching for Potholes: Chandrayaan-3’s notable achievement was its adaptable lander design, allowing it to adjust its final landing position. Two planned descent pauses enabled the lander to choose a spot with minimal risk.
This strategic flexibility in the face of uncertainties holds valuable lessons for both companies and governments.
Marketing/Positioning: India’s south pole landing secured its place as the fourth lunar country and the first at the moon’s south pole. This surpassed China’s Chang’e 4, which landed far from the south pole.
This success has been possible due to India’s strategic choice, effective presentation, while preparation and technology also played a crucial role. This lesson holds significance for India Inc.
Must Read: Chandrayaan-3: Small step to moon, giant leap for India’s space journey
What lies ahead?
Chandrayaan-3’s achievement goes beyond science, covering project management, collaboration, and organizational culture. It also highlights the need to prioritize the future based on modern science.
Vikram Sarabhai’s words, “The development of the nation is intimately linked with understanding and application of science and technology by its people,” remain significant.
