In the running: On the Artemis II launch

The sight of the giant rocket bearing the NASA Artemis II mission and its crew of four ascending into the sky in the early hours of April 2 (IST) brought cheers among onlookers on the ground and around the world. The mission has taken many years and several billion dollars to develop and brings the prospect of returning humans to the moon an equally giant step closer. The U.S. and China are currently leading the two poles of an international moonward race. A race implies winners and losers because they are keen to corner precious water deposits and landscapes on the moon and set up functional lunar bases, which could bias future missions in the winner’s favour. NASA’s Artemis programme and China’s International Lunar Research Station are designed to include research outposts, refuelling depots, communication relays, and resource extraction sites, which would give their operators a head-start on any mission that depends on venturing further into cis-lunar space or towards Mars. While the idea of winning and losing is objectionable vis-à-vis the celestial commons, which should present equal opportunities to all participants in the global space programme, it is also naive to believe that the race is motivated by the urge to explore the universe. Extending geopolitical borders into space and projecting national prestige have been considerable driving forces of the new Space Age.

China’s efforts have been more sheltered and powered predominantly by its own impetus, although they are no less impressive. The U.S., however, has included commercial operators and dozens of other countries via the Artemis Accords. The latter arrangement has made for apparently slower progress but in exchange for greater predictability in future, if and when the Artemis programme succeeds in full and assuming that the U.S. leadership will honour its commitment. India signed the Accords in 2023, thus agreeing to use outer space peacefully, transparently, and interoperably and to share data and resources according to their norms. While India is not an active participant in the Artemis missions in the way that Europe and Japan are, its human spaceflight programme, ‘Gaganyaan’, is in the works and it also plans to build a space station and take Indians to the moon by 2040. India could thus provide payloads and experiments for future launches, explore joint Artemis-Gaganyaan missions, and co-develop lunar activities under the Accords rather than start from scratch. These are useful benefits. In addition to reassuring the U.S. government that NASA remains in the race to the moon, the Artemis II launch allows the country’s partners to look to the next steps.