Is Asia the new center?

North Asia is the new stage for the space race, following South Korea’s successful rocket launch. The United States and the Soviet Union had defined global space rivalry since the 80’s. The International Crisis Group says “The Chinese have been very active… Japan, North and South Korea. It’s quite a competitive atmosphere.” The race will heat up this year with China aiming to land a rover on the moon and India planning to send an unmanned probe into Mars orbit. Last July, Japan set up the country’s first Cabinet-level office for space strategy. In December last year, North Korea successful launched an Earth observation satellite into orbit. South Korea’s own successful rocket launch this week makes it the fifth Asian country and the 13th nation in the world to go into space.

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