Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

ISRO's MOM ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Nesnad) Source- The Dipomat Author- John Johnson Freese The world rightfully applauded when India’s Mangalyaan spacecraft began orbiting Mars in September 2014. After all, new entries were being logged in the record books: India became the first Asian country to reach Mars, the first country to orbit Mars on its first attempt, and only the fourth country to orbit Mars, with such space heavy-hitters as the United States, the Soviet Union and Europe. But who pays attention to record books any longer when it comes to space anyway? Everyone. The benefits for India to be seen as a space power range from regional and geostrategic influence vis-à-vis China, to raising the credibility of sophisticated space technology produced by Anthrix, the commercial arm of India’s Space Research Organization, credibility accompanied by potentially substantial economic returns. Additionally, India achieved its success reaching Mars i