Starship Enterprise

While much attention is paid by Asia-Pacific nations to the maritime, land and air domains, there is a push to develop space capabilities across the region. These efforts are manifesting themselves into a regional ‘space race’ between rival nations.

- Beth Stevenson

This space race reflects a similar one played out during the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union that began in the 1950s and aimed to showcase national prowess and technological ingenuity via increasingly ambitious space-based goals, arguably culminating in the US’ Apollo programme which saw that country send astronauts to the moon between 1969 and 1972. While the Cold War is now over, space exploration and supremacy remain key aims for both the US and Russia, which continue as space faring nations.

Final Frontiers

Now a similar struggle is evident in the Asia-Pacific. Japan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) made early gains in this sphere, launching satellites into space in the 1970s, but other nations such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), India and the Republic of Korea are now striving to play catch up, and there are a number of factors driving this area of development: “Space is important to these countries for multiple reasons,” Bill Ostrove, principal space analyst at Forecast International, a research company, told AMR, adding that it is an important driver of technological and economic development: “China has successfully sold satellites and launch services around the world. In recent years, India has become a major player on the commercial launch market, especially its PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), which has become popular among small satellite operators.”