Opinion | Shukla’s Liftoff Renews India’s Once Self-Imposed Moratorium On Thinking Big

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CNN-News18

Last Updated: June 25, 2025, 22:49 IST

Nations that stop innovating, regenerating, and reimagining themselves fade into history. This is true for even civilisations

Symbolism aside, Shukla’s mission has important practical uses. (File pic)

The moment when the countdown clock struck “T-0″ will be forever remembered as the day when India renewed its pledge to expand its influence beyond the earthly realm of human habitation.

This epochal moment has been a long time in the making. 41 years, to be precise, since an Indian soared into space. The hiatus, never explained, can only be described as a shocking abdication of collective self-belief.

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Nations that stop innovating, regenerating, and reimagining themselves fade into history. This is true for even civilisations.

But Shubhanshu Shukla’s liftoff has the potential to change the way India views itself. His surge into space gives wings to a renewed national quest for an unearthly, pun intended, pace of advancement needed for world domination. One hopes the inheritors of India’s present will feel inspired to succumb to the tug of awe-inspiring science that makes the impossible possible. And just in case someone didn’t get the message hardcoded into the symbolism, Shukla has taken the additional precaution of scripting a message to leave no room for any ambiguity about the reasons for the mission. From space, Shukla called upon all Indians, particularly the young, to take up the challenge of joining him in pushing the boundaries of human intellectual and physical endeavour.

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Symbolism aside, Shukla’s mission has important practical uses. The first-hand experience he gains will be needed to help India build its own manned spaceflight. Every scrap of lived experience is immeasurably more valuable than a line in an instruction manual. It’s this gold dust of first-hand knowledge that convinced the minds at ISRO to fund Shukla’s ride into space aboard the Axiom mission rocket. Shukla’s stint on the ISS is just as important. While he will have the time to soak in the view and make friends, every nook and cranny of the ISS mapped by his mind’s eye will offer valuable design insights to ISRO. Remember that the Indian space agency is not just wanting to send a crewed mission to space, but it also wants to set up Indian bases in low orbit and, most critically, on the Moon and beyond. The establishment of living quarters is a crucial motive, as the next quantum leap in national advancement will be powered by metals and elements rare on Earth but abundant in space.

India cannot afford to be left behind in the race to plant flags on the scape of extraterrestrial colonies that promise to yield the materials needed by aspiring powers to grow beyond their dreams.

About the Author Rahul Shivshankar Rahul Shivshankar is Consulting Editor at Network18. He tweets at @RShivshankar Rahul Shivshankar is Consulting Editor at Network18. He tweets at @RShivshankar

First Published: June 25, 2025, 22:49 IST