Indian startup to launch moon mission

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Indian startup to launch moon mission
Rahul Narayan, fleet commander of Team Indus speaks at the 29th Annual International Seminar of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, in Abu Dhabi. - KT photo by Ryan Lim

Abu Dhabi - Team Indus is among the five teams trying to win the Google Lunar X Prize mission

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Ashwani Kumar

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Published: Sat 11 Nov 2017, 8:34 PM

Last updated: Sat 11 Nov 2017, 10:38 PM

An Indian startup has claimed it is months away from its first private mission to moon.
"Only three countries have done this before - Russia, the US and China. We are trying to do the same thing in the next six months," said Rahul Narayan, founder of Team Indus, at the annual seminar of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Abu Dhabi.
"In six months' time we will be launching and landing on the moon." Team Indus is among the five teams trying to win the Google Lunar X Prize mission. And their journey started in 2011.
"In the first year, we figured out how to go about it. In 2012, we designed the mission. In 2013, we shifted base from Delhi to Bengaluru, the aerospace hub. We had retired Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists, interested in supporting such initiatives."
What started as a bunch of people has turned into a 120-strong team of full-time engineers. "That's the power of putting together purpose - what we do here is far bigger than us."
In 2015, the team won $1 million terrestrial milestone prize after demonstrating a proposed landing systems before the judges. "It was then we started believing that we have a real shot. In 2016, we got a launch contract from ISRO."
Last month, the judges returned to check the preparedness six months ahead of launch. "We got the thumbs up to start building the final spacecraft and in six months' time we will be launching and landing on the moon.
The dream run, however, had passed many tests of time.
"Our biggest challenge was cultural. People wouldn't believe that a private company from India can build something to go to the moon. We had struggled a lot with that. It was after we won the milestone $1m prize that things became easier."
Team Indus' anthem is 'Har Indian Ka Moonshot', a call for every Indian to dream big and claim their shot at the moon.
"We could still fail between now and launch... This is a fascinating story waiting to happen." Today, Team Indus is in the final phase of the launch and determined to make India proud.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com


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