When Chicken Licken was struck by a falling acorn, great panic and mass hysteria ensued, since many believed the sky was falling. Five days ago, citizens of the Turks and Caicos witnessed “the sky falling” when Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship exploded, causing bright streaks of light from plummeting debris which forced airlines to divert flights. The FAA is investigating property damage. Persons described an intense rumbling and tremors when debris struck the Earth.
On March 8, 2024, a Floridian family sued NASA after debris from a Space Station fell through their roof. In late April 2023, a SpaceX Starship exploded over South Texas, causing debris to rain down on Port Isabel, damaging property. Space debris also fell in the Snowy Mountains, NSW, Australia, sometime in 2022.
With the rapidly increasing number of commercial space launches (145 launches reaching orbit last year from the US compared with 21 five years ago), more accidents are inevitable. We need to ensure T&T is a signatory of the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.
Musk’s Starship rocket was meant to compete with NASA’s Space Launch, at a lower cost and with faster mission turnarounds. SpaceX also has plans for a human Mars exploration.
Being a sci-fi enthusiast, who grew up reading the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein, Ursula Le-Guin, and Phillip K Dick, Musk’s ventures fascinate me.
However, a conflict of interest could arise if Musk can influence resources shifting toward his ventures, rather than NASA’s programmes. NASA, like most public institutions, has incurred massive expenditure at a time when the average American is facing an increasing cost of living.
President Donald Trump promised to cut government expenditure and wastage with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were put to head this venture, but this entanglement was short-lived. Ashoka Grover wrote in the Hindustani Times that many believed that Musk was responsible for ‘kicking Ramaswamy to the curb’, while others cite Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial Ohio bid.
If Musk has the power to recommend budget cuts, including to the FA, a scenario could be created where he could starve this agency that has to investigate his own company’s mishaps of funds.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company put the New Glen into orbit nine days ago. Space, it seems, is the new mercantile playground of billionaires.
Seven days ago, India became the world’s fourth nation to achieve space docking, a feat only accomplished by the US, Russia, and China. A year and a half ago, they landed Chandrayaan-3 on the moon.
India’s space agency, ISRO, plans a mission to Venus, intending to expand its share of a rapidly growing $400-billion global space market. India, now the world’s fifth-largest economy, can further its economic growth. In December 2024, ISRO and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a collaborative space exploration agreement.
Even though Indian companies have joined an India-US space and defence collaboration programme and have done business with Space X, AK Bhatt, director general of the Indian Space Association, told Reuters that India is choosing its space battles carefully. It does not aim to take on Musk in a head-on fight over heavy launch rockets, but is focusing on smaller satellites and launch vehicles, and on crunching space data—where it can establish itself as a reliable alternative to China and a partner to countries in the Global South.
Three days ago, India’s PM Narendra Modi also commissioned a major destroyer, a frigate, and a submarine, built at the Mazagon Docks. He recalled India’s maritime heritage going back to the Chola dynasty (3-12 CE) and that of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who resisted the colonial powers at sea. India also has intentions of emerging as a major maritime power.
Researcher David Clingingsmith wrote that India experienced deindustrialisation and cessation of various craft industries under British rule, resulting in India’s share of the world economy declining from 24.4 per cent in 1700 to 4.2 per cent in 1950, and its share of global industrial output declining from 25 per cent in 1750 to 2 per cent in 1900. Profits to the colonists were all that mattered.
In former US President Joe Biden’s farewell address, he said, “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
We now have to be wary of those powerful oligarchs with the global reach to become our new colonial masters.
India should take note.
