As the first comprehensive study on the history of the Indian space program, this project explores fundamental questions on the relationship between the postcolonial state and science and technology. It examines the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that shaped the Indian space program beginning with its first institutional foundations in 1962 to its arrival as a mature space power in 1992. The project is framed around two broad questions, the role of space exploration in Indian aspirations for postcolonial modernity, and the Indian space program's connection to the broader context of global flows of information and matériel on space exploration. It will explore a set of questions related to: the tension between rhetoric and practice in the emergence of the Indian space program, particularly over claims of self-reliance and modernity; the tension between foreign and indigenous innovation in the period in question; the roles that various political, engineering, and cultural constituencies played in shaping not only the program but its technology; and the relationship between military imperative and civilian goals that characterized much of the early space effort, particularly the close relationship between the Indian atomic energy and space programs.
This project aims to integrate intellectual and theoretical approaches from three different bodies of literature, postcolonial theory, the history of science and technology, and the history of spaceflight. Its innovative multi-disciplinary approach differentiates it from existing literature on the Indian space program and the history of spaceflight which have typically had 'internalist' or narrow perspectives devoid of context. With a deep grounding in primary oral history and archival sources, the study will also go beyond uncritical narratives that rely too much on technological determinism ("technology will change India and make her great") or simplistic explanations that privilege one or the other side in the relationship between Europe and its former colonies (e.g., the West is the normative "modern" which Indians aspire for, or that the Indian space program is unique because it is self-reliant). The project also benefits from a close reading of a vast array of published works on the history of Indian science and technology and the history of spaceflight, already collected as part of preliminary research with the goal of establishing a firm foundation for the project.
This project will contribute to the history of postcolonial science and technology and expand our knowledge of the role of science and innovation in post-independence India. At a time when India is poised to become one of the economic, technological, and political powers of the twenty-first century, this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex historical forces that made this transition possible. The results of the project will also aid in explaining the motivations of an increasing number of developing nations that are now investing resources in space exploration. Finally, the study will challenge received wisdom on issues of technology transfer and weapons proliferation in a globalized world, and question our fundamental assumptions about how we define some nations as "owners" of technologies and others as "proliferators." The book resulting from this project will be used in courses on Indian history, the history of science and technology, postcolonial science, and the history of space exploration.
