EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The area of area has turn into important to Twenty first-century life, given the extent to which communications and  navigation at the moment are reliant on space-based techniques. That reliance has made area a strategic area as effectively — one the place geopolitical competitors on Earth is more and more projected, and which is being weaponized in preparation for potential conflicts. It’s a future that not way back would have appeared the stuff of science fiction; at present, consultants say, it’s all too actual.

For years, the important thing gamers on this beyond-earth area have been the U.S. and Russia – not stunning, given the histories of the American and Soviet area applications. The brand new energy is China, which has made strides in area a lot because it has in lots of areas right here on Earth.