Developing countries are stepping up their own space programs


07/02/2018

An increasing number of countries that were not previously associated with active space exploration are introducing their own space programs. Among those states are countries such as Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh. All of them are conducting and planning their own launches of satellites and flights into space.



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Last week, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said that India is going to send a lunar rover to the South Pole of the Moon already in October. The aim of the study will be the search for water and the isotope helium-3, which is considered promising fuel. Indian authorities want to start production of helium-3 on the Moon. Earlier, ISRO claimed that the country would be able to start producing it by 2030. This is just one example of the fact that developing countries are stepping up their participation in space exploration.

According to data for 2017, India was on the fifth place in the world for spending on space research after the US, China, Russia and Japan. At that, its budget for this sphere is ten times smaller than that of the leader - $ 1.2 billion versus $ 39,3 billion of the United States.

Last year, ISRO launched the carrier rocket PSLV-C37 from the Indian launch pad Sriharikota. The rocket has already put 104 satellites into orbit. India made the first flight to the Moon in 2008, and in the near future it is going to launch the second rocket Chandrayaan-2. This flight is scheduled for October 2018; it is destined to deliver to the Moon a moon-rover to search for helium-3. India also reported on plans to send spacecraft to Mars and Venus.

China is also building up its space program. The country is increasingly competing with old-timers such as the US, Russia and the EU, although the Chinese started developing its own space program relatively recently. The first Chinese cosmonaut flew into space in 2003, and the first lunar rover was sent to the moon in 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated that China's transformation into a cosmic superpower is one of the priorities of the country's authorities. According to last year reports, the Chinese budget for space research is $ 6.1 billion.

In May, the first Chinese rocket developed by the private company Chongqing Liangjiang Star was launched from a Chinese launch pad. It was created by the Beijing company OneSpace. In 2019, the company plans to launch 10 carrier rockets. By 2022, China plans to launch a permanent orbital station with a crew into orbit. By the end of this year, China is going to send a moon rover Chang`e 4 to explore the reverse side of the moon, China will plan to land a man on the moon within the next 15 years. China has launched more than 240 satellites into orbit.

Countries that previously were little associated with the development of extraterrestrial space are also developing their own space programs. In May, the Falcon-9 launched the first satellite of Bangladesh into orbit. Last year, Iran launched the carrier rocket Simorgh of its own production. Iran has repeatedly sent satellites into orbit. Before the end of this year, the country is going to send a new satellite Sharif Sat.

Last year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced creation of the so-called Mars program 2117. Just like the name suggests, its goal is to land a manned mission to Mars in the next 100 years. In 2014, the UAE established its own space agency, and by 2021 the country plans to send the first probe to Mars for research. In September last year, Egypt also decided to establish their own space agency.

Already in 2020, Egypt is going to launch the first satellite of its own production EgyptSat 2. By the end of 2018, Saudi Arabia will launch its next satellite. Previously, the country has already launched 13 satellites, and will sent two more in the next year. In 2019, Pakistan will launch its own space program. The Pakistan program involves creation of a satellite of its own and construction of a space center. Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his intention to send his own astronaut into space. According to some reports, the Turkish cosmonaut training program can be started in 2023. 

source: reuters.com