space programme

But America's armed forces maintain a separate space programme of their own, largely out of the public eye.

But the Soviet space programme has much less resonance, in the West at least.

South Korea's government has been unabashed in wanting its space programme expanded with an eye to putting astronauts into space.

These include an exhibition at the Council's headquarters on the life of the cosmonaut and the early Soviet space programme.

"So far, China's manned space programme hasn't carried out a single military task, " said Cui Jijun, director of Gansu launch centre.

The long-term future of the space programme hangs in the balance.

A Pakistani space programme and a bigger free trade deal are also on the horizon.

India, whose space programme has an annual budget of one billion dollars -- less than a tenth of NASA's.

Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet space programme, despised the manufactured drama of the countdown.

The scientists invited to the meeting are mostly experts on space programme.

The vehicle is the first in the history of the US space programme to reach orbit and return autonomously to a runway, the BBC reports.

Kulacki is a senior analyst and China project manager at the UCS, which focuses on the security implications of the space programme.

China has long had a commercial and military space programme that has already launched more than 70 satellites.

The exhibition is modest, filling a room in the Council's offices with artefacts, pictures and documents from the Soviet space programme.

Atlantis is due to launch in July, one last mission for a space programme that's lasted for 30 years.

Would-be astronauts competing for China's next space programme must comply with 100 rules - excluding those with bad breath or a runny nose.

Iran has made a series of claims about advances in its ambitious space programme in recent years.

In recent years China's space programme has taken huge strides, in parallel with the country's spectacular economic rise.

"At least half the reason for their space programme is nationalistic pride -- I am sure it is the same on the military side, " Moss said.

China has stepped up its space programme, with plans to put a taikonaut on the Moon by 2030.

They will be the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma, who was part of a joint space programme between India and Russia in 1984.

Its civilian space programme is aimed partly at showing that it can achieve what the Americans and Russians have done.

A separate pact would increase American involvement in India's space programme.

It is also seen as a critical progression in the country's three-step space programme, with the ultimate aim to build a large space station.

In 1987 he joined the Chinese Air Force and was a pilot. 11 years later, he joined the Chinese space programme.

set up that way in deliberate contrast to the military-run Soviet space programme.

This campaign has been exemplified by a space programme that in 2003 made China just the third nation to conduct manned space flight.

But its manned space programme has never got back the pizzazz of 1969.

They are not alone; Japan, too, has a space programme.

Expect the Chinese space programme to pick up pace going forward.

Putting a human into space is the first step of three steps in China's manned space programme, Xie said.

Putting a humansintosspace is the first step of three steps in China's manned space programme, Xie said.

He joined the Chinese space programme 11 years later.

But the officials in charge of Beijing's space programme have set their sights much further than that.

Last year Barack Obama outlined his plans for the future of America's space programme.

The men and women working on the space programme once were high school students

Design for public space programme category