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On September 12th, 1962, former President John F. Kennedy very famously said "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." 7 years later, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. This website serves as both a tribute to all those who have dedicated their lives pushing the boundaries of the unknown, as well as a visual journey of the Space Race—both the old and the new.
Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched in 1957 by the Soviet Union—setting off the 18-year Space Race that ended with Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts shaking hands in Orbit during the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Barring the first 10 years after Sputnik 1, and the U.S.S.R. launched the most rockets—a number that dwindled rapidly after its dissolution in 1991. In the late 20th and early 21st century, other countries such as China, France, Japan, and India quickly built their own space programs and began launching rockets. China, in specific, has taken the lead—launching the most satellites in 2018.
The diagram on the left dissects the events leading up to the Apollo 11 mission. The Soviets, motivated by gaining a strategic advantage over the United States during the Cold War, became the first country ever to send a man in space. Driven by fear, a series of events were set into motion that led to humans on the Moon.
Historically, the U.S.S.R has launched the most number of satellites. Most of their space agencies, interestingly, have been based out of their capital. The same can't be said about their counterparts—The United States and China. The waffle chart on the right shows the proprotion of sateliites launched by each agency — split by the location of their headquarters.
However, a new trend is now emerging. Many new players are entering the race to dominate space, and the second space race was kickstarted in 2004 after the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which made for private players to enter this industry.
Asian countries in specific, have made great strides since the turn of this century and have quickly began to establish their position in this new space race. China, Japan, and India are all funelling millions of dollars into their space programs and collaborating with private partners to catch up to their Western counterparts.
Asian countries—China, India, Japan, North Korea, Iran, and Israel—make up 6 out of the 10 countries that have independently launched satellites into orbit. As the second space race wages on, Asia is climbing the ladder.
One reason for so many new players in this race could be due to growing economic prosperity around the world. Our data shows that, on average, countries with a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita launch more satellites. As Asian countries such as China, India, and Japan have developed exponentially over the past few decades, so have their space programs.
Thus, while the first space race was dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union, the second space race has seen the arrival and dominance of Asian countries—bringing about a new paradigm for the 21st century.
Sources
Sources
https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=PDB_LV
https://github.com/rfordatascience/tidytuesday/tree/master/data/2020/2020-07-14
https://github.com/TheEconomist/graphic-detail-data/tree/master/data/2018-10-20_space-launches
https://spacewatch.global/2016/07/new-asian-space-race/
Reach out to me at ag18052002@gmail.com for questions or concerns.
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