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Korea Aerospace Research Institute
Korean Space Launch Vehicle 1 rocket, also called Naro, launches into orbit from South Korea's Naro Space Center on Jan. 30, successfully carrying a science satellite into orbit. It marked South Korea's third KSLV-1 rocket launch, and the booster's first successful flight.
By Mike Wall
Space.com
The United States and the Soviet Union pushed each other to new heights during the Cold War space race, and now something similar appears to be unfolding across Asia.
In the past two months, both North Korea and South Korea successfully launched satellites to orbit for the first time, and Iran claimed it sent a monkey to suborbital space and retrieved the animal unharmed. Such activities are not isolated incidents, but rather highlight a growing trend, experts say.
"I think there's a significant Asian space race going on," said Joan Johnson-Freese, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
Rockets and missiles
North Korea's satellite launch came on Dec. 12, while rival and neighbor South Korea celebrated a similar milestone on Jan. 30. Iran announced the success of its monkey mission on Jan. 28, though some observers have voiced doubts about the claim, which has yet to be verified by Western intelligence officials.
The United States and other nations have condemned the North Korean and Iranian launches, viewing them as thinly disguised tests of ballistic missile technology that both countries are supposed to be prohibited from developing. [Images: North Korea's Rocket Program]
There's not much difference, after all, between a satellite-carrying rocket and a warhead-toting intercontinental ballistic missile, which reaches suborbital space on its way toward a distant destination on Earth's surface. Resolutions passed by the United Nations aim to keep such technology out of the hands of North Korea, which possesses nuclear weapons, and Iran, which is thought to be pursuing them.
Asia's two most populous nations have also been flexing their space-technology muscles recently. Since late November, both China and India have conducted major missile-defense tests, which employ technology similar to that required to take out satellites, Johnson-Freese noted.
"All of this technology is very symbiotic between civilian and military aspiration," she told Space.com.
China leads the way
Iran claims its monkey launch will help pave the way for a human spaceflight mission, which the nation hopes to accomplish by 2020 or so. India has also voiced a desire to blast an astronaut into space.
Such ambitions are in large part a response to the achievements of China, Johnson-Freese said.
In 2003, China became the third country (after the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia) to launch a person into space. And last year, China pulled off a manned docking in Earth orbit, executing a demonstration mission that could lay the foundation for a crewed space station down the line.
"They think they cannot allow China to be seen as that far ahead of them technologically," Johnson-Freese said of Indian officials. "And the connotation of human spaceflight is technological sophistication."
China's human spaceflight successes have garnered the nation and its leaders a great deal of prestige both regionally and around the globe — a fact not lost on India and Iran, Johnson-Freese said. Such nations likely view the articulation of bold aims as important, even if success is a long shot or a long way down the road.
"They know they can't catch up (to China), but they have to be seen as active players," Johnson-Freese said.
Follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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It was only a matter of time before rocket technology leaked to other countries.
Leaked? As far as I know there's nothing classified about rockets. They're simply expensive to build correctly.
I was hoping they would leave the president of iran what's his name yabadabado in space and bring the monkey back.
The "space race" is over. Would someone like to race to invent the wheel or make fire again?
The "space race" is only over if you're America or Russia or China.. and even that I would argue about.. Fact remains, many other countries desire to be a space-faring nation. So, for them, the space race is certainly not over, and is not comparable to reinventing the wheel or discovering fire. If India, for example had already sent a human being into orbit then perhaps you could say they were reinventing the wheel.
Actually, one could argue that America is currently reinventing the wheel in terms of our space capabilities. We used space capsules, then we used the winged space shuttle, and now we are moving towards the space capsule. (not that I think it's a bad thing)
Thanks for the reply!
I like how you spun the wheel idiom. Although I stand my ground on the "space race". There is only one "first". It would seem that "space race" has also become an idiom and you are absolutely correct in your usage of it. If I knew how to build a better idiom...
I just love our (USA) hypocrisy on Iranian and North Korean 'space' endeavors. We seem to forget that the first three manned launch vehicles of our space race were converted ICBM's (Redstone, Atlas, Titan). Do as I say, not as I do!
soooooo, you believe Iran and N. Korea are just friendly neighbors that don't mean all that "DESTROY THE GREAT SATAN !!!!" stuff they say all the time?
I don't think they're serious. They know that significant hostile action against the US means the gloves come off and US could go right in and take over their countries.