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Several Asian national space programs are attempting to achieve the scientific and technological advancements necessary for regular spaceflight, as well as to reap the strategic and economic benefits of space capability. This is sometimes referred to as the Asian space race in popular media,[1] an allusion to the Cold-War-era Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
As in the previous Space Race, between the United States and the USSR, the motivations for the current push into space include national security, national pride, and commercial gain, the economic and technological development of Asia and concerns of national security amid rising tensions among emerging powers, has made Asian countries invest more in their space programs.
Many Asian nations have taken steps toward a significant presence in space. While Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Turkey are developing launch vehicles, Israel, Iran, North Korea and South Korea already possess operational small launch vehicles.
Three major Asian space powers; China, India and Japan, are forerunners by far in Asia, having cryogenic engines, operating larger space rockets, have sent deep space missions to moon and planets, operate large fleets of satellites and have dated programs for human spaceflight and space stations.
China's first crewed spacecraft entered orbit in October 2003, making China the first Asian nation to send a human into space.[21] India expects to send its own vyomanauts into space in the Gaganyaan capsule no earlier than 2023.[22][23]
The achievements of these space programs do not yet rival those of the former Soviet Union and the United States, although some experts[who?] believe Asia may soon lead the world in space exploration.[24]
Although Japan was the first program on Earth to launch a mission that returned samples from an asteroid,[citation needed] the existence of a space race in Asia is still debated, due to the lack of true spaceflight milestones. Although China denies that there is an Asian space race, there was competition between China and India in their attempts to be the first to launch a probe to the Moon within the first decade of the 21st century.[25] In January 2007, China became the first Asian space power to send an anti-satellite missile into orbit, destroying 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 6miles per second.[26][27] In 2019, India, in operation Mission Shakti, did the same, shooting down its own Microsat-R satellite.[28] China and India tested their anti-satellite weapons in 2007 and 2019 respectively, making them the only countries other than the US and the USSR/Russia, to possess ASAT weapons.[citation needed]
A month later, Japan's space agency launched an experimental communications satellite designed to enable super-high-speed data transmission in remote areas.[26]
In addition to enhancing national prestige, countries are economically motivated to operate in space, frequently launching commercial satellites to enable communications, weather forecasting, and atmospheric research. According to a 2006 report by the Space Frontier Foundation, the "space economy" is estimated to be worth about $180billion, with more than 60% of space-related economic activity coming from commercial goods and services.[30]
China
Long March 5 heavy-lifted rocket, the most powerful launch vehicle from an Asian country as of 2021[update].
China successfully completed its first orbital launch with Long March 1 rocket in 1970. With increased economy and technology strength in the following decades, especially since the early 21st century, China has made significant achievements in many aspects of space activities. It has developed a sizable family of Long March rockets, including Long March 5, the launch vehicle with highest payload capacity in Asia since 2016[update]. Starting from year 2010, China has been conducting more orbital launches than all other Asian countries combined every year.[31]
As the first step of distance outer space exploration, the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program was approved in 2004. It launched two lunar orbiters: Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 in 2007 and 2010 respectively. On 14 December 2013, China successfully soft-landedChang'e 3 Moon lander and its rover Yutu on the Moon's surface, becoming the first Asian country capable to do so, followed by Chang'e 4, the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon, in 2019 and Chang'e 5, the first lunar sample return mission conducted by an Asian country, in 2020, marking the completion of the three goals (orbiting, landing, returning) of the first stage of the program which no other Asian country has achieved previously.[32]
China began its first interplanetary exploration attempt in 2011 by sending Yinghuo-1, a Mars orbiter, in a joint mission with Russia. Yet it failed to leave Earth orbit due to the failure of Russian launch vehicle.[33] As a result, the Chinese space agency then embarked on its independent Mars mission. In July 2020, China launched Tianwen-1, which included an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, on a Long March 5 rocket to Mars. Tianwen-1 was inserted into Mars orbit on 10 February 2021, followed by a successful landing and deployment of the Zhurong rover on 14 May 2021, making China the second country in the world and the first country in Asia which successfully soft-landed a fully operational spacecraft on Mars surface.
In addition to outer space explorations, China's space activities also plays important role in the national economic activities. Since 2019, China each year has launched more orbital vehicles than any other nations,[34][35] with more than 140 spaceflight launched between 2015 and 2020.[32] China is operating multiple satellite systems, including communication, Earth imaging, weather forecast, ocean monitoring. BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the satellite navigation system developed, launched, and operated by China, is one of the four core system providers and the only Asian provider of International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.[36]
As part of international space collaboration, China has collaborative projects with Russia, the ESA, and Brazil and offers launch services of commercial satellites for other countries.
In conjunction with public sector space programs, there are also privately owned Chinese companies dedicated on space activities. The private company i-Space achieved Asia's first successful private sector orbital launch in 2019.[37]
India's interest in space travel began in the early 1960s, when scientists launched a Nike-Apache rocket from TERLS, Kerala.[38][39] Under Vikram Sarabhai, the program focused on the practical uses of space in increasing the standard of living by sending remote sensing and communications satellites into orbit.[40]
India's space launch vehicles are SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV, SSLV, ULV, RLV, HLV and some Sounding Rockets such as Rohini. Some of them are retired and not in operation and some of them are under developmental progress.
In 2003, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee publicly urged his country's scientists to work towards sending a man to the Moon.[42] India successfully sent its first probe to the Moon, known as Chandrayaan-1, in October 2008, which helped to find the presence of water in the Moon.[43] The nation also launched its second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, to the south pole of the Moon.[44][45]
ISRO launched its Mars Orbiter Mission (informally called "Mangalyaan") on November 5, 2013, successfully entering orbit around Mars on September 24, 2014. India is the first country in Asia, and the fourth in the world, to perform a successful Mars mission. It is also the only one to do so on the first attempt, at a record low cost of $74 million.[46]
All of these have been launched successfully by PSLVs so far, meaning that the country's scientists have gained significant expertise in space technologies. In June 2016, India set a record by launching 20 satellites simultaneously.[47]
India broke the world record by successfully placing 104 satellites in Earth's orbit from a single rocket launch (PSLV-C37) on February 15, 2017, which almost tripled the previous record of 37, which had been held by Russia.[48][49]
North Korean nuclear and Chinese military programs represent a serious issue for Japan's foreign relations.[50] Japan is working on military and civilian space technologies, developing missile defense systems and new generations of military spy satellites, as well as planning for the implementation of crewed stations on the Moon.[51] The North Korean government claimed the missile was merely launching a satellite into space, accusing Japan of causing an arms race.[52]Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, adopted after World War II, limits military activities to defensive operations; although in 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.[53] Japan has not yet developed its own crewed spacecraft and does not have a program in place to develop one. The Japanese did develop a space shuttle, HOPE-X, to be launched by the conventional space launcher H-II, but the program was postponed and eventually cancelled. Then, the simpler crewed capsule Fuji was proposed but not adopted. Pioneer projects—including the single-stage-to-orbit, reusable launch vehicle, horizontal-takeoff-and-landing ASSTS[citation needed] and the vertical takeoff and landingKankoh-maru—were developed but have also not been adopted. In 2009, a more conservative JAXA crewed spacecraft project was supposed to be launched by 2025 as part of Japan's plan to send human missions to the Moon. Shinya Matsuura was doubtful about the Japanese human Moon project, suspecting the project was a euphemism for participation in the American Constellation program.[54] In 2019, JAXA planned to send a humanoid robot, such as ASIMO, to the Moon within the next decade, in the hopes of using both automated and remote-controlled machines to build their planned Moon base.[54][55] As of 2022, Japanese astronauts will land on the Moon via NASA's Artemis program.[56]
Iran put into orbit its first satellite Omid, using the Safirlaunch vehicle on 2 February 2009, becoming the ninth nation to achieve an orbital launch.[57] Three other satellites were inserted into orbit by the Safir before its retirement in 2019.[58] Subsequent development of launch vehicles has led to the Simorgh, which was designed and built as safir's successor and was launched for the first time on 19 April 2016.[59] The Zuljanah has also been developed as Iran's first solid fueled launch vehicle and was unveiled on 1 February 2021.[60] A dedicated Spaceport named Semnan Space Center was built in the early 2000s near the provincial capital of semnan province with two launch pads, a 45 metet tall servicing tower, integration, communication and testing facilities.[61]
A human spaceflight project to design and manufacture crewed space capsules headed by the aerospace research institute of the ministry of science and technology also exists whose most significant achievement was the successful sub-orbital launching and retrieval of a monkey named "fargam" in 2013.[63] A mock prototype of the human space capsule was displayed in 2015.[64]
On 19 September 1988, Israel became the eighth country in the world to build its own satellite and launcher. Israel launched its first satellite, Ofeq-1, using an Israeli-built Shavit three-stage launch vehicle.[65] The launch 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 had begun 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."[66]
South Korea is a more recent player in the Asian space race.[74] In August 2006 South Korea launched its first military communications satellite, the Mugunghwa-5.[citation needed] The satellite was placed in geosynchronous orbit and collects surveillance information about North Korea.[75] The South Korean government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on space technology and was due to launch its first space launcher, the Korea Space Launch Vehicle, in 2008.[76][needs update] South Korea's government justifies the cost by pointing to the long-term commercial benefits, as well as enhanced 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.[77]
Turkey's first Göktürk satellite was launched on December 18, 2012. The satellite is capable of taking images which have a resolution of over two meters per pixel[citation needed] Turkey is also developing an orbital launch system known as UFS.[78]
On 7 June 1962, with the launch of the Rehbar-I rocket, Pakistan became the first country in the Islamic world and South Asia, third in Asia, and tenth in the world to successfully launch an unmanned spacecraft. SUPARCO has launched several sounding rockets. Pakistan's first satellite, Badr-I, was launched from China in 1990. Badr-B was launched in 2001 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, using a Ukrainian Zenit-2 rocket. In 2011, Paksat-1R—which was contracted for, built, and launched by China—became Pakistan's first communication satellite.[79] Under its Space programme 2040, Pakistan aims to operate five geostationary and six low Earth orbit satellites.
Other nations and regions
In 2018, with the launch of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite, which was purchased abroad, Bangladesh began operating its first communication satellite. The Bangladeshi Space Agency SPARRSO intends to launch satellites after 2020. Bangladesh's government has stressed that the country seeks an "entirely peaceful and commercial" role in space.[80]
China was the first Asian country and third nation in the world, after the USSR and USA, to send humans into space. During the Space Race between the two superpowers, which culminated with Apollo 11 landing humans on the Moon, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai decided on 14 July 1967 that China should not be left behind, and initiated their own crewed space program: the top-secret Project 714, which aimed to put two people into space by 1973 with the Shuguang spacecraft. Nineteen PLAAF pilots were selected for this goal in March 1971. The Shuguang-1 spacecraft, to be launched with the CZ-2A rocket, was designed to carry a crew of two. The program was officially cancelled on 13 May 1972 for economic reasons.
A second, short-lived crewed program was based on the successful implementation of landing technology by FSW satellites. It was announced a few times in 1978 with the publishing of some details, including photos, but then was abruptly canceled in 1980. It has been argued that the second crewed program was created solely for propaganda purposes, and was never intended to produce results.[191]
In 1992, under China Manned Space Program (CMS), also known as "Project 921", authorization and funding was given for the first phase of a third, successful attempt at crewed spaceflight. To achieve independent human spaceflight capability, China developed Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March 2F rocket dedicated for human spaceflight in the next few years, along with critical infrastructures like new launch site and flight control center being built. The first uncrewed spacecraft, Shenzhou 1, was launched on 20 November 1999 and recovered the next day, marking the first step of the realization of China's human spaceflight capability. Three more uncrewed missions were conducted in the next few years in order to verify the key technologies. On 15 October 2003 Shenzhou 5, China's first crewed spaceflight mission, put Yang Liwei in orbit for 21 hours and returned safely back to Inner Mongolia, making China the third nation to launch a human into orbit independently.[192]
The goal of the second phase of CMS was to make technology breakthroughs in extravehicular activities (EVA, or spacewalk) as well as space rendezvous and docking to support short-term human activities in space.[193] On 25 September 2008 during the flight of Shenzhou 7, Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming completed China's first EVA.[194] In 2011, China launched the Tiangong 1 target spacecraft and Shenzhou 8 uncrewed spacecraft. The two spacecrafts completed China's first automatic rendezvous and docking on 3 November 2011.[195] About 9 months later, Tiangong 1 completed the first manual rendezvous and docking with Shenzhou 9, which carried China's first female astronaut Liu Yang.[196]
In September 2016, Tiangong 2 was launched into the orbit. It was a space laboratory with more advanced functions and equipment than Tiangong 1. A month later, Shenzhou 11 was launched and docked with Tiangong 2. Two astronauts entered Tiangong 2 and stationed for about 30 days and verified the viability of astronauts' medium-term stay in space.[197] In April 2017, China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1 docked with Tiangong 2 and completed multiple in-orbit propellant refueling tests, which marked the successful completion of the second phase of CMS.[197]
The third phase of CMS began in 2020. The goal of this phase is to build China's own space station, Tiangong.[198] The first module of Tiangong, the Tianhe core module, was launched into orbit by China's most powerful rocket Long March 5B on 29 April 2021.[199] It was later visited by multiple cargo and crewed spacecrafts and demonstrated China's capability of sustaining Chinese astronauts' long-term stay in space.
According to CMS announcement, all missions of Tiangong Space Station are scheduled to be carried out by the end of 2022.[200] Once the construction is completed, Tiangong will enter the application and development phase, which is poised to last for no less than 10 years.[200]
In addition to low Earth orbit, China is aiming for a crewed moon landing mission in the 2030s. The concepts of several critical components, like rocket and spacecraft, have been displayed yet no formal announcement has been made by Chinese authority yet.[203]
Just a few days after China said that it would put a human into orbit in the second half of 2003, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee publicly urged his country's scientists to work toward sending a man to the Moon.[204]
The Mysore-based Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) has developed dried and packaged food for astronauts. The food laboratory has developed around 70 varieties of dehydrated and processed food items that have undergone strict procedures to zero-in on containing the necessary micro bacterial and macro bacterial nutrients. Special care has to be taken in the packaging. The food item should be of limited weight but at the same time should be high in nutrition.[210]
In July 2018, a pad abort test was conducted to validate a crew escape system.[211] Parachute tests were scheduled before the end of 2019 and multiple in-flight abort tests were planned starting mid-2020.[164]
On 15 August (Indian independence day) 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that before India's 75th independence day in 2022, the country would have sent humans into space. The crewed module mission was renamed Gaganyaan.[212] India is expected to send 3 humans into LEO on Gaganyaan spacecraft for 3–4 days onboard a GSLV Mk III launch vehicle.[213]
Before the prime minister's August 2018 announcement, human spaceflight was not a priority for ISRO, although most of the required capability for it had been realised;[214] afterward it received the highest priority.[215] The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) was set up in January 2019 to coordinate implementation of the mission.[216] A third launch pad is under construction at Satish Dhawan Space Centre with the ability to support heavy lift launchers and human spaceflight while the second one is being augmented with similar systems to realise the mission on time. India's crewed orbital vehicle will have two uncrewed flights–at the end of 2020 and mid-2021—before actually taking humans onboard at the end of 2021[needs update]. Indian astronauts will be dubbed "Vyomanauts"[217] or "Gaganauts". Selected by the Indian Institute of Aerospace Medicine, a team of seven test pilots from the Indian Air Force are undergoing training in Russia per the memorandum of understanding with Glavkosmos, out of which 4 will be ready for India's first human space mission.[164]
Continuing programs
India plans to deploy a 20 tonne space station as a follow-up programme to the Gaganyaan mission. On 13 June 2019, ISRO Chief K. Sivan announced the plan, saying that India's space station will be deployed 5–7 years after completion of the Gaganyaan project. He also said that India will not join the International Space Station program. India's space station would be capable of harbouring a crew for 15–20 days at a time. It is expected to be placed in a low Earth orbit of 400km altitude and be capable of harbouring three humans. Final approval is expected to be given to the program by the Indian government only after the completion of the Gaganyaan mission.[218][219][220]
ISRO is planning to conduct SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) in 2020[needs update] to develop techniques related to orbital rendezvous, docking, formation flying, and remote robotic arm operations, for application to human spaceflight, in-space satellite servicing, and other proximity operations that will be critical for space station operations.[221]
As an alternative to HOPE-X, NASDA in 2001 proposed the Fuji crewed capsuled spacecraft for independent or ISS shuttle flights; but the project was not adopted. Since 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has developed the H-II Transfer Vehicle cargo spacecraft–based crewed spacecraft.
Iran expressed for the first time its intention to send a human into space during the summit of Soviet and Iranian Presidents in 1990. Soviet PresidentMikhail Gorbachev reached an agreement in principle with President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to make joint Soviet–Iranian crewed flights to the Mir space station; but an agreement was never finalized, due to the subsequent dissolution of USSR.
On 21 November 2005, the Iranian News Agency claimed that Iran has a human space program along with plans for the development of a spacecraft and a space laboratory. [224] On 20 August 2008, the head of the Iran Aerospace Industries Organization (IAIO), Reza Taghipour, revealed that Iran intends to launch a human mission into space within a decade. This goal was described as the country's top priority for the next 10 years, in order to make Iran the leading space power of the region by 2021.[225][226]
In August 2010, President Ahmadinejad announced that Iran's first astronaut should be sent into space onboard an Iranian spacecraft by no later than 2019.[227] A sub-orbital spaceflight was conducted in 2016.[228]
On 17 February 2015, Iran unveiled a mock prototype of an Iranian crewed spacecraft that would be capable of taking one astronaut into space.[229] According to Iran's space administrator, this program was indefinitely put on hold in 2017.[230]
According to unofficial Chinese internet sources, an Iranian participation in the future Chinese space station program has been under discussion.[231] Currently, Iran doesn't have a medium-lift rocket similar to the Long March 2F, GSLV Mk III, or H-IIA, presently making Iran's sending a human into space unlikely.[232]
Iraq
According to a 5 December 1989 press release from the Iraqi News Agency, about the first (and last) test of the Tammouz space launcher, Iraq intended to develop crewed space facilities by the end of the 20th century. These plans were put to an end by the Gulf War of 1991 and the hard economic times that followed.[citation needed]
Solar System exploration and human spaceflights are major space technologies in the public eye. Since Sakigake, the first interplanetary probe from Asia, was launched in 1985, Japan has completed the most planetary explorations, but other nations are catching up.[citation needed]
Japan was the first Asian country to launch a lunar probe. The Hiten (Japanese: "flying angel") spacecraft (known before the launch as MUSES-A), built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan, was launched on 24 January 1990. In many ways, the mission did not go as was planned. Kaguya, the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft, was launched on 14 September 2007.[citation needed]
China launched its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, on 24 October 2007; the probe successfully entered lunar orbit on 5 November 2007.[citation needed]
India launched its first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, on 22 October 2008; the probe successfully entered its final lunar orbit on 2 November 2008. The mission was considered a major success, and the probe detected water on the lunar surface.[citation needed]
Chang'e 4 landed on the far side of the Moon in January 2019.
The first confirmed Moon landing from Asia was Hiten's mission in 1993. Before an intentional hard landing at the end of the mission, some pictures of the lunar surface were taken before impact.[233] Hiten was not designed as a Moon lander and had few scientific instruments for lunar exploration. The next Japanese Moon-landing program was the LUNAR-A, in development since 1992. Although the LUNAR-A orbiter was cancelled, its penetrators were integrated into the Russian Luna-Glob program, which was scheduled to launch in 2011. The penetrators are "relatively" hard landers,[234] but they are not expected to be destroyed on impact.[citation needed]
The next Asian probe to land on the Moon was the Indian Moon Impact Probe (MIP), which was released from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in 2008. MIP was a hard lander and was designed to displace the ground under it for analysis. MIP was designed to be destroyed at impact, but its instruments performed lunar observations to within 25 minutes before impact. The lessons learned from this landing were to be applied to future soft landings on spacecraft, such as Chandrayaan-2, which crashed, following successful orbital insertion, and was only a limited success. After the accomplishment of its first human mission, India has proposed space stations and manned missions to the Moon.[222][235]
The Chinese Chang'e-1 spacecraft also achieved a hard landing at the end of its mission in 2009, when China became the sixth country to reach the lunar surface. One purpose of the lander was to pre-test for future soft landings. A Chinese lunar soft landing was achieved with the Chang'e-3 mission, making it the first Asian country to do so. With the Chang'e 4, China became the first country ever to land on the far side of the Moon. In 2020, China successfully completed Chang'e 5, a lunar sample return mission. China also aims to undertake a human Moon landing by the late 2020s.[236]
Japanese interplanetary probes have been mostly limited to Small Solar System bodies, such as comets and asteroids. Japan was the world's first country to launch a spacecraft to the asteroids. JAXA's Nozomi probe was launched in 1998, but contact with the probe was lost due to electrical failures before visiting the planet Mars. The second Japanese probe, Akatsuki, was launched in 2010, bound for the planet Venus. Akatsuki entered orbit around Venus on 7 December 2015. Together with the European Space Agency, JAXA has launched Mio spacecraft for mapping the magnetic field of Mercury. The spacecraft will also conduct a flyby of Venus.[citation needed]
The Chinese human Mars exploration program is planned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences for around 2050.[237] After the failed attempt to launch Yinghuo-1, China successfully launched Tianwen-1 Mars mission. Tianwen-1 was inserted into Mars orbit on 10 February 2021, followed by a successful landing and deployment of the Zhurong rover on 14 May 2021, making China the second country in the world and the first country in Asia which successfully soft-landed a fully operational spacecraft on Mars surface.[238] China has also been planning to conduct Mars sample return, send an orbiter to Jupiter, as well as a probe to flyby Uranus.[239]
India successfully launched its Mars Orbiter Mission on 5 November 2013. It reached Mars in September 2014. India has become the only country to successfully insert a satellite into Martian orbit on its maiden attempt; and, as such, it also became the first Asian country to achieve this feat. India is planning another mission to Mars in the 2020s.[240] India was scheduled to launch Aditya-L1 near the Sun to study Solar corona[241] and is developing the Shukrayaan-1 spacecraft to be sent to Venus.[242] India is also studying exploration missions to asteroids, Jupiter, to beyond the Solar System like the American Voyager 1 and to exo-planets.[243]
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts, cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers.
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle.
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. As of July 2021, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) have launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies have launched humans on a suborbital trajectory. The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometers (50 mi) are awarded the United States Astronaut Badge. This article follows the FAI definition of spaceflight.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bangalore. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman of ISRO acts as the executive of DOS as well. ISRO is India's primary agency for performing tasks related to space-based applications, space exploration and the development of related technologies. It is one of six government space agencies in the world which possess full launch capabilities, deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and operate large fleets of artificial satellites.
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation from Earth. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the first leap in the quality of lunar observations. Galileo Galilei is generally credited as the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes; having made his own telescope in 1609, the mountains and craters on the lunar surface were among his first observations using it.
Spaceflight began in the 20th century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and Hermann Oberth. First successful large-scale rocket programs were initiated in the 1920s Germany by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, and eventually in Nazi Germany by Wernher von Braun. The Soviet Union took the lead in the post-war Space Race, launching the first satellite, the first man and the first woman into orbit. The United States caught up with, and then passed, their Soviet rivals during the mid-1960s, landing the first men on the Moon in 1969. In the same period, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and China were concurrently developing more limited launch capabilities.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP) was initiated in 2007 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The first uncrewed flight, named Gaganyaan 1, is scheduled to launch no earlier than Q1 2023 on a GSLV Mark III rocket.
Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden crewed mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3 metric tonnes capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two or three-person crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's GSLV Mk III in December 2021, but this has since been delayed to no earlier than 2024.
Notable spaceflight activities in 2017 included the maiden flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III on 5 June and the first suborbital test of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, inaugurating the Mahia spaceport in New Zealand. The rocket is named for its innovative Rutherford engine which feeds propellants via battery-powered electric motors instead of the usual gas generator and turbopumps.
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2018. For the first time since 1990, more than 100 orbital launches were performed globally.
The Chandrayaan programme, also known as the Indian Lunar Exploration Programme is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The programme incorporates lunar orbiter, impactor, soft lander and rover spacecraft. The name of the programme is from Sanskrit candrayāna (transl. 'Moon-craft').
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the 2020s.
This article documents notable and expected spaceflight events during the year 2022.
The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) is a body under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to coordinate the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The agency will be responsible for implementation of the Gaganyaan project. The first crewed flight is planned for 2024 on a home-grown GSLV-III rocket.
Chandrayaan-3 is a planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
↑ Previously named National Space Program Organisation, until 1 April 2005 – "About NSPO/Heritage". nspo.org.tw. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
↑ "Info iptek" (in Indonesian). Indonesian State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK). 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
↑ Peri, Dinakar (13 June 2019). "India to have its own space station: ISRO". The Hindu. ISSN0971-751X. Retrieved 7 December 2019. Giving out broad contours of the planned space station, Dr. Sivan said it has been envisaged to weigh 20 tonnes and will be placed in an orbit of 400 km above earth where astronauts can stay for 15–20 days. The time frame is 5–7 years after Gaganyaan, he stated.
Various conventions, treaties, agreements, memorandums, charters or declarations establishing and governing intergovernmental organisations or inter-agency bodies dealing with space affairs
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Iran 
Israel 
Japan 
Malaysia 
North Korea 
Pakistan 
Philippines 
South Korea 
Republic of China 
Thailand 
