of dollars, a far cry from the golden age of the Cold War’s space race. Meanwhile,

countries like South Africa and Nigeria are just entering their own era of space exploration.

So how many countries today have space programs?

Well, even though many countries boast space programs, only about a dozen have rocket-launching

capabilities. These include Japan, India, and North Korea. Also, only space programs

from 3 countries have successful HUMAN spaceflight technology - the US, China, and Russia.

The United States has the most successful space program in the world. Their main government

entity, NASA, has a budget of $40 Billion dollars. The USSR’s space program, used

to rival the United States during the space race in the 1950s and 60s. But the dissolution

of the Soviet Union, and the recent economic sanctions against Russia, have drastically

affected their productivity. In 2013, Russia spent $8.6 Billion dollars on their space

program, outpaced by both the US, AND China.

In recent years, other countries have also made developments in the space industry. India

sent an orbiter to Mars for research in 2013. Nigeria and Egypt have also owned a few satellites,

which they use for observation and weather tracking . And Argentina owns a host of orbiting

sensors, which detect and predict natural disasters.

But why are these poorer countries spending money on space programs? Well, most of them

DON’T have lofty goals like walking on the moon - they are instead using simple earth

satellites to monitor weather and the terrain. This helps farmers increase profit and production.

And the satellites can also be used to improve internet and telephone infrastructure. This

is possible in developing countries because the cost of building these technologies has

dropped significantly over the years.

Underdeveloped countries can also gain a competitive edge by entering the global space race. North

Korea, for example is not considered a superpower, but it has high-level rocket technology that

threatens larger nations. Developing space programs can also lead to more tech innovations

in general. This has happened in the United States, when NASA discoveries led to new commercial

products like invisible braces and scratch-resistant sunglasses.

So really, developing a space program is a great investment for most nations. The added

technological benefits allow countries to improve their telecommunications and can raise

their international standing. Space development is a great way to add to the economy, and

often becomes a powerful source of national pride.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the space and other awesome science topics,

you’re going to really love my brand new show TestTube Plus! On the very first episode,

we dive into the question: Why the heck are we so obsessed with Mars? There will be new

topics every week, so if you’re a TestTube fan, make sure you subscribe! Thanks everyone!

I’ll see you there.