ISAS Insights

India's ongoing mission to Mars and China's project of placing a rover on the Moon's surface by mid-December 2013 have raised speculation about an emerging space race between these two Asian neighbours. In reality, the space programmes of the two increasingly science-savvy countries have had different trajectories. However, both New Delhi and Beijing have often spoken against militarisation of space and sought to harness space-related applications for economic or social development at home. These commonalities may influence not only the discourse but also the actions of these two countries in the longer term, depending on the future course of global politics.