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.
As it grows in economic strength, China has its gaze firmly fixed on the heavens, devoting more and more energy and resources to developing its space program.
India's space scientists are reaching out further into the universe. Even as an unmanned mission to the moon is readying for launch, and a manned mission to space awaits final approval from the government, they are already eyeing the next destination - Mars.
The author argues that despite the bluster of radical politicians, Japan will add up the advantages and disadvantages of an independent nuclear-arms program, and will inevitably decide that these weapons are a loser for Japan.
A series of Pentagon initiatives aimed at space militarization and the creation of new types of armament - capable of precisely striking small targets in every corner of the world and neutralizing most of today's anti-aircraft defenses - will likely result in a new power battlefield in the near future.
Japan is actively increasing its role in military space by jointly developing missile defense systems, new generations of military spy satellites, and planning for manned stations on the moon. The author argues that these developments risk igniting an arms race with China.
The author argues that North Korea has decided once and for all that possession of nuclear weapons is the country's surest form of defense and that negotiations are merely aimed at buying time for building up its stockpile.
The author warns that the arms race between China & Taiwan could soon get out of control and expand to include not only conventional weapons but also space-based systems and nuclear missiles, if not defenses against those missiles."
India and Russia on Wednesday decided to jointly develop a major space program, signaling new horizons in cooperation between the two countries. During Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's three-day visit, the Russian and Indian space agencies signed a deal pledging to cooperate in space research, including exploration of the moon.
The author examines the military imperatives driving the Chinese space program.