With memories of Sputnik bleeps and Neil Armstrong's celestial first footing, space races can be fun - especially if someone else is paying for them. But, having recently read the story of James Webb's years as head of NASA, any illusions about the romance of human space flight have fully burnt up. The burgeoning Asian 'space race' has a sad whiff of deja vu. At the same time, belief in the overall value of space to mankind has strengthened. Remove communications, weather and navigation satellites and the world really would stop, or at least become a much harder and less pleasant place in which to live. You can also make lots of money from space-related activities, although not necessarily from satellites themselves, or especially from getting them into orbit. The technology required for robotic exploration also pushes innovation in spacecraft design - all the better to support more commercial applications - just where the UK space sector happens to be strong.
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