India goes to Mars: Does it make economic sense?

BY XN IRAKI

KENYA: India has joined China, USA, Russia and the European Union in sending a spacecraft to explore Mars, the Red Planet. They launched it with great fanfare that was widely reported by media outlets, including Kenyan ones.

Does such space exploration make economic sense?

Some could argue that it doesn’t in a country where millions are hungry. That money could be used to feed them and provide basic needs like water and much-needed infrastructure. In an extreme case, the money could be distributed as welfare. But this is a local or conventional view that, I believe, would appeal to lots of Kenyans, particularly NGOs and non-scientists.

Viewed long term

But space exploration — which we have engaged in for half a century — makes a lot of economic sense, particularly if viewed long term.

First, research, mostly scientific research, is expensive and only governments can bear the risks. Why else are most research firms public entities, from Kari (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute) and Kirdi (Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute) to Kefri (Kenya Forestry Research Institute) and others? Have you heard anyone talk about their privatisation?

Left to the private sector, most research firms would not go far since the results would be uncertain and returns too low. Suppose you owned a research firm that has been looking for a drug to cure Aids for 30 years without success, how would you pay salaries, or for power, water and rent?

The costs and risks of scientific research have kept many  universities in Africa spawning  patents and creating a skewed employment market, where we produce more social scientists than hard scientists like geologists, engineers and chemists.

Scientific research also suffers spillover effects as lots of people benefit from private investment in research without paying — the free rider effect. In other words, if your neighbour is a minister and is guarded at night, you benefit without paying. To reduce free riding, we fund research using taxpayers’ money, assuming everyone pays taxes. This also applies to public facilities like roads, sewerage, schools and national defence.

It makes economic sense to provide such goods in “bulk”. Imagine if each of us has a private army or every family had their own school? 

Now, back to space. Space exploration gives a country bragging rights. The feel-good effect can lead to a more confident citizenry, which could make them more productive, curious and enterprising. Don’t we feel more energised after any major achievement and want to pursue bigger dreams? The international clout from getting into the space club can be used in negotiations for trade, investment and even for peace.

But the most important economic benefit from space exploration is the spillover effect. The research that goes into sending a space craft to Mars and beyond can be used in other sectors of the economy.

Grand goals

Space exploration pioneered a lot of the technology we enjoy today. That includes mobile phones, pacemakers, global positioning systems (GPSs) and lots of other technological marvels like weather forecasting. Let us not forget surveillance and intelligence gathering, which drones depend on. We could argue that space exploration makes us safer.

Even managers learn from space exploration. Space exploration goes beyond technology — which is the most visible part.

Managing a project like landing a spacecraft on Mars or the moon demands lots managerial acumen, from coordination, budgeting, integration, synthesis and fundraising to long-term planning and use of technology.

We could argue that after pursuing such grand projects like space exploration, it becomes easier to pursue more earthly projects like disease prevention, transportation, irrigation, education and even running a country  since citizens can “pull together”, buoyed by such successes.

That is what we lack in Kenya: superordinate goals that pull us together. After the Constitution, we now have no other grand project that can tax our patience, creativity and innovation.

Without such big goals, the country dulls up. Note how quiet we are, only awakened by bad news like terrorism or accidents.

Are we surprised that India has pursued grand goals since its uhuru in 1947. Its institutes of technology are world renowned. It has a nuclear bomb, a super computer and is the pharmacy of the world.

We have a lot to learn from our neighbour to the east. Yet when we talk of the east, we think China, Japan and South Korea, not the neighbour we have interacted with for more than a century. Ever come across a Kenyan learning Hindi?

Maybe after sorting out our political intrigues — from devolution to the balance of power between Parliament, the Executive and Judiciary — we shall think beyond Earth, like visiting Mars, in my lifetime.

It is paradoxical that while our  counties are worried about  “outsiders”, other nations are exploring other planets.

The writer is a lecturer and MBA programme coordinator, University of Nairobi.

xniraki@gmail.com