The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out its second Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment, named RLV-LEX-02, at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka on March 22, 2024. This follows the trailblazing success of the first landing test, RLV-LEX-01, on April 2, 2023. The vehicle showcased in these tests is expected to be pivotal in a ground-breaking reusable two-stage orbital launch system by 2030.

China's foray into space exploration began in the late 20^th century and has experienced remarkable growth in the early 21st century. Initially, there was some criticism about China's space program, and it was often mentioned that China is reverse-engineering Russian technology. However, over some time, China has consolidated its science, technology and innovation base and found rapid progress in Space. Initially, China started with investments in arenas like launcher development, remote sensing, meteorology and communications.

Technology was at the centre stage during the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the United States in June 2023. The joint statement issued comprises more than 40% of the information associated with technology partnerships, defence technology collaboration and aspects of clean energy and space technologies.

On October 31, 2022, China successfully launched the third and last space-station module, Mengtian. This module is required to complete the building of China's space station by the end of 2022. This space station is known as Tiangong, and after the full operationalisation of this station, China would become the only third country in the world, after the US and Russia, to have their own space station.

The world is facing various challenges owing to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and it appears that this threat is not going to get over, at least in the near future. The world is slowly learning to adapt to this new reality. Some states are found doing well (in a relative sense) and are getting tuned to work under the shadow of the Covid-19 menace. Initially, various social sectors and sectors of the economy were finding it difficult to operate under the current crisis.

China successfully landed its rover on Mars on May 14, 2021. After landing, it took 17 minutes to unfold the solar panels attached to this system and send a signal back to Earth. It may be noted that the current distance to Mars from the Earth is 320 million km, and it takes about 17/18 minutes for radio messages to reach Earth. Presently, this rover is situated inside a lander and would take few more days to get out of the lander's belly and start moving on the Martian surface. It is expected to operate for three months.

Moon is in the news, again. The first human landing on the surface of the Moon was made possible on July 20, 1969, with the landing of Apollo 11. The last human landing on the Moon was during December 1972. The US now is proposing the next human landing on the Moon around 2024. Moon landing during the 1970s was more about the technological one-upmanship amongst the then superpowers, namely the US and USSR, but now in the 21^st century, there is a visible change in the approach.

The planet Mars is in the news again. Three missions are expected to be Mars-bound during 2020. Typically, it takes between six to nine months to reach Mars from Earth. The minimum distance from the Earth to Mars is about 54.6 million km. Mars launch windows are available only after a gap of 26 months and the present launch window is open till the third week of August. The first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe dubbed ‘Hope’ (Al-Amal in Arabic), successfully took off from Japan on 20 July 2020. 

India’s story of growth is directly related to the development of technology. If Modi 2.0 is keen to find long-term solutions to ensure growth, then it has no option than to make investments in technologies. One important area of technology where much is expected from Mr Modi is the outer space. He has raised much expectation since his first term as he took a keen interest in the activities of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The 21st century is witnessing rapid development in various parts of East and Southeast Asia. The developing states in the region are struggling to maintain balance between their social obligations and economic reforms. It is their belief that technology could act as a catalyst for successful implementation of their development strategies. During the last few years Vietnamese government has invested significant resources in the development of its science and technology base keeping in mind the long-term interests. Space technology is one such area identified by the Vietnamese government.