‘Tis the season to celebrate ISRO again. But pardon me if I don’t get up from my seat for this anthem. ISRO’s competence is to be expected, and only higher achievements merit widespread celebration.

On February 15, ISRO set a new record by launching 104 satellites from one single launch vehicle. This is about three times what anyone had done before. Make no mistake – this is a feat made possible by good engineering, a focus on precision, and extensive simulations and modelling. The control systems teams at ISRO seem to be getting better and better at what ...