Comparison of Asian National Space Programs - Asian Space Powers

Asian Space Powers

See also: Timeline of first orbital launches by country

Of the ten countries that have independently successfully launched a satellite into orbit, six are Asian: China, India, Iran, Israel, Japan and North Korea.

Kazakhstan does not have its own rocket technology; however, it contains the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility, used by Russia under a permanenet lease agreement valued at US$ 150 million annually. Iraq developed and tested the Tammouz space launch vehicle without a satellite on 5 December 1989. According to a press release by the Iraqi News Agency, the warhead completed 6 orbits, but this report was not confirmed by international observers. North Korea claims to have launched Kwangmyŏngsŏng satellites twice (31 August 1998 and in 5 April 2009); according to international observers, those rockets fell into the North Pacific without deploying their payloads. South Korea planned to commence launches in 2009 and Indonesia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Turkey claim to have space programs as well.

China's first manned spacecraft entered orbit in October 2003, making China the first Asian nation to send a human into space.

India expects to demonstrate independent human spaceflight by 2015, and Iran and Japan have plans for independent manned spaceflights around 2020.

While the achievements of space programs run by the main Asian space players (China, India, and Japan) pale in comparison to the milestones set by the United States and the former Soviet Union, some experts believe Asia may soon lead the world in space exploration. China has been the leader of Asia's space race since the beginning of the 21st century. The first Chinese manned spaceflight, in 2003, marked the beginning of a space race in the region. At the same time, the existence of a space race in Asia is still debated. China, for example, denies that there is an Asian space race. In January 2007 China became the first Asian military-space power to send an anti-satellite missile into orbit, to destroy an aging Chinese Feng Yun 1C weather satellite in polar orbit. The resulting explosion sent a wave of debris hurtling through space at more than 6 miles per second. A month later, Japan's space agency launched an experimental communications satellite designed to enable super high-speed data transmission in remote areas. After successful achievement of geostationary technology, India launched its first Chandrayaan-1 moon mission, which discovered water on the moon. On 21 February 2008 the US Navy destroyed a disabled spy satellite USA 193. The US denied the destruction of the satellite was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China in 2007. The first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon, spent 11 days aboard the International Space Station in April 2008.

In addition to increasing national pride, countries are commercially motivated to enter space. Commercial satellites are launched for communications, weather forecasting, and atmospheric research. According to a report by the Space Frontier Foundation released in 2006, the "space economy" is estimated to be worth about $180 billion, with more than 60 percent of space-related economic activity coming from commercial goods and services. China and India propose the initiation of a commercial launch service.