India’s space programme has long thrived on a careful blend of ambition and thrift. It has sent probes to Mars on a shoestring, soft-landed on the Moon, and readied astronauts for orbit. Yet prestige projects can sometimes cast long shadows. The recent failure of the last operational atomic clock aboard IRNSS-1F, a satellite in India’s homegrown navigation system, has exposed a sobering reality: when it comes to strategic infrastructure, India cannot afford such lapses. The N