In the 1980s, a lot of people thought Japan would not only rule the world economically,
but that they would also dominate in space. There was even talk of hotels on the
Moon built by Japan in this decade. We all know where that has gone now.

China does a lot by brute force. They also borrowed a lot of space technology from
Russia - note how similar the Shenzou is to the Soyuz. The pace at which they are
going after space makes me think they won't have a major slice of space for a long
time, if ever.

It is nieve to think that China and other super powers with space pograms don't have
designs on controlling space for their nations, at least in LEO and someday the rest of the
Solar System. But I guarantee if China dominates space that they will restrict access to it;
everything and everyone will have to go through them.

The US has a chance to really get back into space if they can make Constellation happen.
Not long ago any talk of lunar colonies and humans to Mars was just talk. Now they are
actually working towards making them a reality. Whether it continues depends on the
next Presidency.

I would like to have more faith in private space enterprises, but they don't have the
funds and resources. They are caught in a Catch-22: No one is going to really invest
in them until they can prove themselves in space, but they need to get into space
first to prove themselves.