Asian space powers
Of the ten countries that have independently successfully launched a satellite into orbit, six are Asian: China, India, Israel, Japan, Iran and North Korea.
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 send Gaganauts to space in the Gaganyaan capsule by 2022.
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 former Soviet Union and the United States, 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 due to the non-concurrence of space
milestone events like there was for the United States and the Soviet
Union. Japan for example was the first power on Earth to get a sample
return mission from an asteroid. There was however some concurrence
between China and India to see which of those two could be the first to
launch a probe to the Earth's moon back in the late 2000s decade. 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's ISRO launched its first Moon mission, Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008, which discovered ice water on the Moon. India then launched on 5 November 2013 its maiden interplanetary mission, the Mars Orbiter Mission.
The primary objective is to determine Mars' atmospheric composition and
attempt to detect methane. The spacecraft completed its journey on 24
September 2014 when it entered its intended orbit around Mars, making
India the first Asian country to successfully place a Mars orbiter and
the only country in history to do so in the first attempt. ISRO became
the fourth space agency in the world to send a spacecraft to Mars, only
behind NASA, ROSCOSMOS, and ESA.India carried out its Anti-satellite
testing named 'Mission Shakti' in March 2019,thus
making it fourth nation in the world to do so and have such missile
technology.
In addition to increasing national pride, countries are
commercially motivated to operate in 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% of space-related economic activity
coming from commercial goods and services. China and India propose the initiation of a commercial launch service.
China
China has a space program with an independent human spaceflight capability. It has developed a sizable family of successful Long March rockets. It has launched two lunar orbiters, Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2. On 2 December 2013, China launched a modified Long March 3B rocket, with Chang'e 3 Moon lander and its rover Yutu on-board toward the Moon and successfully performed soft landing and rover operations, becoming the third country to do so. It also has plans to retrieve samples by late 2017. In 2011, China embarked on a program to establish a manned space station, starting with the launch of Tiangong 1 and followed by Tiangong 2 in 2016. China attempted to send a Mars orbiter (Yinghuo-1) in 2011 on a joint mission with Russia, which failed to leave Earth orbit. Nevertheless, the 2020 Chinese Mars Mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover has been approved by the government and is aiming a launch date in the year 2020. China has collaborative projects with Russia, ESA, and Brazil,
and has launched commercial satellites for other countries. Some
analysts suggest that the Chinese space program is linked to the
nation's efforts at developing advanced military technology.
China's advanced technology is the result of the integration of
various related technological experiences. Early Chinese satellites,
such as the FSW series, have undergone many atmospheric reentry
tests. In the 1990s China had commercial launches, resulting in more
launch experiences and a high success rate after the 1990s. China has
aimed to undertake scientific development in fields like Solar System
exploration. China's Shenzhou 7 spacecraft successfully performed an EVA
in September 2008. China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft successfully performed
a manned docking in June 2012. Furthermore, China's Chang'e 2 explorer
became the first object to reach Sun-Earth Lagrangian point in August
2011 and also the first probe to explore both Moon and asteroid by
making a flyby of the asteroid 4179 Toutatis. China has launched DAMPE, the most capable dark matter explorer to date in 2015, and world's first quantum communication satellite QUESS in 2016.
India
India's interest in space travel began in the early 1960s, when scientists launched a Nike-Apache rocket from TERLS, Kerala. Under Vikram Sarabhai,
the program focused on the practical uses of space in increasing the
standard of living. Remote sensing and communications satellites were
placed into orbit.
The first Indian to travel in space was Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, launched April 2, 1984, from erstwhile USSR.
Just a few days after China said that it would send a human into orbit in the second half of 2003, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee publicly urged his country's scientists to work towards sending a man to the Moon. It successfully sent its probe to the Moon in October 2008 and is planning its second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2 for 2019.
ISRO launched its Mars Orbiter Mission
on November 5, 2013 (informally called "Mangalyaan") which successfully
entered into the orbit around Mars on 24 September 2014. India is the
first in Asia and fourth in the world to perform a successful Mars
mission. It is also the only one to do so on the first attempt and at a
record low cost of $74 million.
ISRO
has demonstrated its re-entry technology and till date has launched as
many as 175 foreign satellites belonging to global customers from 20
countries including US, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, U.K. All of
these have been launched successfully by PSLVs
so far, gaining significant expertise in space technologies. In June
2016, India set a record by launching 20 satellites simultaneously. The PSLVs
are also one of world's most reliable launch vehicles which clocked its
35th successful mission (39 total) in a row as of February 2017, thus
having success rate of nearly 90%.
India broke the world record by successfully placing 104
satellites (almost tripling the Russian record of 37) in Earth Orbit on
15 February 2017 on a single rocket launch (PSLV-C37).
Recent reports indicate that human spaceflight is planned with a spacecraft called Gaganyaan for December 2021 on a home-grown GSLV-III rocket.
ISRO is also planning to send orbiters to Venus, Mars and Jupiter or
comets and asteroids in the near future.India have successfully launched
anti-satellite missile , becoming only the fourth country to do so.
Japan
The H-IIA F11 launch vehicle lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan
Japan has been cooperating with the United States on missile defence since 1999. North Korean nuclear and Chinese military programs represent a serious issue for Japan's foreign relations.
Japan is working on military and civilian space technologies, developing
missile defence systems, new generations of military spy satellites,
and planning for manned stations on the Moon.
Japan started to construct spy satellites after North Korea test fired a Taepodong
missile over Japan in 1998. The North Korean government claimed the
missile was merely launching a satellite to space, and accused Japan of
causing an arms race.
The Japanese constitution adopted after World War II limits military
activities to defensive operations. On May 2007 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a bold review of the Japanese Constitution to allow the country to take a larger role in global security and foster a revival of national pride.
Japan has not yet developed its own manned spacecraft and does not have
a program in place to develop one. The Japanese space shuttle HOPE-X, to be launched by the conventional space launcher H-II, was developed but the program was postponed and eventually cancelled. Then the simpler manned capsule Fuji was proposed but not adopted. Pioneer projects of single-stage to orbit, reusable launch vehicle horizontal takeoff and landing ASSTS and vertical takeoff and landing Kankoh-maru were developed but have not been adopted. A more conservative new (JAXA manned spacecraft) project is proposed to launch by 2025 as part of the Japanese plan to send manned missions to the Moon. Shin'ya Matsuura is doubtful about the Japanese manned Moon project, and suspects the project is a euphemism for participation in the American Constellation program. JAXA planned to send a humanoid robot (such as ASIMO) to the Moon.
Other players
Iran
Iranian Simorgh (rocket) SLV
Iran has developed its own satellite launch vehicle, named the Safir SLV, based on the Shahab series of IRBMs. On 2 February 2009, Iranian state television reported that Iran's first domestically made satellite Omid (from the Persian امید, meaning "Hope") had been successfully launched into low Earth orbit by a version of Iran's Safir rocket, the Safir-2. The launch coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Iran is also developing a new launch vehicle Simorgh (rocket).
Israel
Shavit, the Israeli orbital launch system
Israel became the tenth country in the world to build its own
satellite and launch it with its own launcher on 19 September 1988.
Israel launched its first satellite, Ofeq-1, using an Israeli-built Shavit three-stage launch vehicle. The launching was the high point of a process that began in 1983 with the establishment of the Israel Space Agency
under the aegis of the Ministry of Science. Space research by
university-based scientists began in the 1960s, providing a ready-made
pool of experts for Israel's foray into space. Since then, local
universities, research institutes, and private industry, backed by the
Israel Space Agency, have made progress in space technology. The
agency's role is to support "private and academic space projects,
coordinate their efforts, initiate and develop international relations
and projects, head integrative projects involving different bodies, and
create public awareness for the importance of space development."
North Korea
North Korea
has many years of experience with rocket technology, which it has
passed along to Pakistan and other countries. On December 12, 2012,
North Korea placed its first satellite in orbit with the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2. On 12 March 2009 North Korea signed the Outer Space Treaty and the Registration Convention, after a previous declaration of preparations for the launch of Kwangmyongsong-2. North Korea twice announced satellite launches: Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1
on 31 August 1998 and Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 on 5 April 2009. Neither of
these claims were confirmed by the rest of the world, but the United
States and South Korea believe there were tests of military ballistic
missiles. The North Korean space agency is the Korean Committee of Space Technology, which operates the Musudan-ri and Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center rocket launching sites and has developed the Baekdusan-1 and Unha (Baekdusan-2) space launchers and Kwangmyŏngsŏng
satellites. In 2009 North Korea announced several future space
projects, including manned space flights and the development of a manned
partially reusable launch vehicle. The successor to the Korean Committee of Space Technology, National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) successfully launched an Unha-3 launch vehicle in February 2016, placing the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 satellite in orbit.
South Korea
South Korea is a newer player in the Asian space race. In August 2006 South Korea launched its first military communications satellite, the Mugunghwa-5. The satellite was placed in geosynchronous orbit and collects surveillance information about North Korea.
The South Korean government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars
in space technology and was due to launch its first space launcher, the
Korea Space Launch Vehicle, in 2008.
South Korea's government justifies the cost for reasons of long-term
commercial benefits and national pride. South Korea has long seen North
Korea's significantly longer missile range as a serious threat to its national security. With the nation's first astronaut launched into space, Lee So-yeon, South Korea gained confidence in entering the Asian space race. They have completed the construction of Naro Space Center. South Korea is now attempting to build satellites and rockets with local technology. South Korea is pursuing a space program that could defend the peninsula while lessening their dependency on the United States.
Turkey
As of 2012 Turkey was developing its own military satellite. The first Göktürk satellite is planned to be launched in 2013.
The Turkish satellite is planned to be capable of taking satellite
images of greater than two meters per pixel resolution, thus making
Turkey the second nation in the world capable of such a feat, after the
United States. Turkey is also developing an orbital launch system known as UFS.
Other nations and regions
Other minor space fairing countries are Bangladesh Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan. LAPAN is responsible for long-term civilian and military aerospace research Indonesia. For over two decades, it has managed satellites and domain-developed small scientific-technology satellites Lapan and telecommunication satellites Palapa, which were built by Hughes (now Boeing Satellite Systems) and launched from the US on Delta rockets or from French Guiana using Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 rockets. It has also developed sounding rockets and has been trying to develop small orbital space launchers. The LAPAN A1 in 2007 and LAPAN A2 satellites were launched by India in 2015. Indonesia has undertaken programs to develop and use their own small space launch vehicle Pengorbitan (RPS-420).
On 7 June 1962, with the launch of the Rehbar-I rocket, Pakistan became the tenth country in the world to successfully conduct the launch of an unmanned spacecraft. SUPARCO has launched a number of sounding rockets. Pakistan's first satellite, Badr-I was launched from China in 1990, Badr-B in 2001 from Baikonur Cosmodrome using a Ukrainian Zenit-2 rocket, followed by Paksat-1R in 2011 which was contracted and actually built and launched by China, was Pakistan's first communication satellite. Under its Space programme 2040,
Pakistan aims to operate five geostationary and six low earth orbit
satellites. Development of any satellite launch vehicle is not planned.
With the launch of Bangabandhu-1
satellite purchased abroad, Bangladesh began operating its first
communication satellite in 2018. Bangladesh Space Agency intends to
launch satellites after 2020. Bangladesh's government has stressed that
the country seeks an "entirely peaceful and commercial" role in space.
