India provides a new model of space exploration

The scientific skills, technological expertise and costs needed to explore space have meant only an elite club of nations can make the journey. India has long been launching satellites, but it has now joined the elitist space-farers by successfully orbiting a probe around Mars. In doing so, it scored an impressive list of achievements: first Asian country; first to attain the feat on the initial attempt; and reaching the goal for the least amount of money. It is a model that may hold the key to rapidly improving our understanding of the universe.

The prohibitive cost of space exploration has kept it in the hands of the wealthy and determined. Deep space satellites and landings have been confined to nations with decades of experience. All that have so far tried have logged failures, each time losing hundreds of millions of dollars. India has joined the US, Russia and the European Space Agency in reaching Mars and it has done so for just US$74 million, about one-ninth the cost of the American agency Nasa's probe that went into orbit around the planet a few days earlier.

Nasa's satellite is heavier and more sophisticated, as would be expected after half a century of Martian exploration. That does not lessen the Indian endeavour, though; valuable information can be collected by comparing data from instruments carrying out experiments on the two probes. Cooperation, rather than competition, is the best way to study the universe. But there are lessons to be gained from Indian cost-effectiveness; apart from cheaper labour costs, there are fewer ground tests, smaller rockets and recycled equipment.

India's scientific stature has been raised and the goal of building an advanced technological base is closer. China and Japan, which have failed to reach Mars, are likely to now redouble efforts. But space research should not be about rivalry. While nations will always be protective of indigenous technologies, they can still work together on experiments, equipment design and training. Through such co-operation, the wonders of space can be efficiently and effectively explored.