Congratulations fellow Indians 🇮🇳, we are successfully a part of Lunar Space History. 🌖🚀

Think about the years of your life in India after 2000, we have seen remarkable progress here, from insane technological progression to a thriving cultural revolution. Yet there is so much to achieve, new boundaries to push and drive at the cutting edge. We need to improve the living conditions of billions of Indians and become the bearers of true value enrichment. We often speak about what this country can do for ourselves and that’s a fair ask. But perhaps it is not about what this country can do for you but what you can do for this country. In 1967, my grandfather would have been toiling under the relentless sun or facing even the freezing chills of the Himalayas to grow crops. Today, I can grab a quick Uber to the airport, have an overpriced meal and fly to wherever I want. In the grand scheme of things, our time has just begun. We’ve always been the underdogs, the odds stacked against us and yet we persevere. Chandrayaan-3 is on its trajectory to the moon and perhaps as a show of unifying force it is a reminder that this country is on its way to something we haven’t witnessed before. Perhaps, to sit down and tune out the negativity is best, just focus on being a better version of yourself and inspire others to do the same. We are the kids who no one expected much from, yet we worked on ourselves and became so good that we cannot be missed. Just keep moving forward. Some Monday love from salt. :)

This is the first step towards interplanetary return missions

India wale to sab bik gaye hai

..unless either of the two mess up insanely bad We'll probably get to the #3 spot if things go well. But it seems impossible that we'll ever go beyond that. Internal reasons that are very hard to fix:- (1) Our population TFR fell below standard replacement rate in 2023. This means we will not be able to follow the same economic growth trajectory required to reach developed status before population stagnation or declination. This is not a death knell but definitely very VERY bad news. (2) Our blue-collar workforce skill levels are not only subpar but are slowly falling behind the world standards every year. Much of our youth aim to join government orgs like the Army or the Railways which train for the job later, not before. Despite a national shortage of skilled plumbers, electricians etc, our vocational training orgs have been unsuccessful in attracting people towards these careers as well as churning out skilled workers. (3) Our bureaucratic environment is extremely slow with pathetic turnaround times on initiatives. This is not government specific and has always been the case so it seems like this will always be. This is not even a problem unique to India as many other countries have been facing this too but it is still a factor that negatively impacts our growth massively. I wish it was just internal reasons but a large part of it also comes down to both China and US being aggressively great at ensuring their successes:- (1) Chinese manufacturing seems nearly impossible to overcome - not just for India but also for the US. Yes, we might win over some industries and companies like the US, Vietnam, Thailand etc. have been doing but the amount of autocratic control in China allows them to crush competition easily. Case in point - the recent tussle between India and China on solar manufacturing which China won by autocratically lowering their prices. (2) If de-dollarisation succeeds, it will benefit China the most because (contd. in comments)

I’ll start first, Within my lifetime, we sent a spacecraft to the moon. We also succeeded in our Mars mission on the first try. There are seldom moments like such that remind us that we are one country. We are a force to be reckoned with, continually working to move the needle of progress. We’ve achieved so much and there’s way more to achieve. But I’m hopeful. We’ve gotten this far and we will go further than ever before.

- Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based space tech startup, has secured a major deal with NASA, marking the first such achievement by an Indian company since the sector opened to private firms in 2020. - The contract, part of NASA's $476-million commercial smallsat data acquisition program, will run through November 2028. - Pixxel will provide hyperspectral earth observation data to NASA, aiding in climate change, agriculture, biodiversity, and resource management research. - CEO Awais Ahmed hailed the contract as a monumental achievement, emphasizing the importance of hyperspectral imaging for future earth observation. - Pixxel plans to launch its highest-resolution hyperspectral satellites soon, expanding its constellation to 24 satellites for broader commercial availability. Source: [Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/pixxel-bags-nasa-contract-to-offer-hyperspectral-earth-observation-data/)