An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country's 45-year-old space programme.

There are well over 100,000 objects in Earth orbit, the vast majority being non-functioning junk in the form of satellites and debris from rocket launches. With no atmospheric barrier to shield the moon's surface, NASA is now taking steps to prevent a similar accumulation of debris in lunar orbit.

Two days before the launch of India's first lunar orbiter, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair said on Monday that India will plant its flag on the moon to help establish its presence on the earth's only natural satellite.

Michio Kaku views it as unlikely that China's current drive to land a man on the moon is either an economic or military threat but still argues for a re-examination of the Outer Space Treaty to govern nations on the moon.

Indian space scientists expect to map the lunar surface for the helium-3 (He-3) mineral to fuel nuclear power plants and frozen water as they make final preparations for India’s mission to the moon, expected to blast off next month.

NASA engineers are testing out a giant, six-legged robot that could pick up and move a future Moon base thousands of kilometers across the lunar surface, allowing astronauts to explore much more than just the area around their landing site.

Asia's main powers are warming up for a big space race. China launched its first lunar orbiter, the Chang'e-1, on a Long March 3A rocket last week. Japan had sent its Kaguya lunar probe a month earlier. India, South Korea and Taiwan are preparing to join in. This race is largely driven by what scholars call "techno-nationalism". Successful space missions generate pride domestically and demonstrate prowess internationally.

Germany hopes to put an unmanned space craft into the moon's orbit in the early part of the next decade.

China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday. Japan sent an orbiter up last month. India is close behind. It's an economic competition with military undertones.

Fifty years after Sputnik, the Cold War battle for the cosmos is history but new international rivalries over controlling the final frontier have emerged.