On a new space race

While we here in the U.S. are trying to get space exploration into the hands of the private sector, (with the government footing the bill of course) the rest of the world is still engaged in a new space race.  It is mostly one of prestige.  Smaller countries have just a few options to make an international splash.  Build a nuke, become an exporting power house, or send a man to space.  The last one turns out to be the one that is sort of within reach for counties that have some money.  Nukes just tend to cause trouble, and building a strong economy is an inexact science.

China has already put a man in orbit and even performed a space walk.  Japan has built two human rated space units.  Neither unit is capable of delivering a human to orbit but they do have the Kibo laboratory on the ISS and the HTV pressurized cargo transport.  India is working toward human capability and now Iran has joined the fray with a plan to orbit a human within the next ten years.  They sent up a rocket loaded with a zoo of small creatures (light ones) just to prove that they could.

I wish them all well.  They will serve as the push for the western world to quit diddling around and actually build some new flight hardware.  I am still holding my breath for the European Space agency to commit to developing a manned capsule to sit atop their excellent Ariane 5.  No one is better at building pressurized volume than Thales Alenia Space in Italy.  I hope to see a concrete solution from them soon.