The new era of astropolitics

Right after the Second World War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R started a race to conquer space. U.S.S.R won the first prize by putting the first man in orbit - Yuri Gagarin - in April 1961. Then the U.S. won the big trophy, with the Apollo mission landing on the moon, in July 1969, the American hero being Neil Armstrong.

Since then, more and more powers have shown an interest in space conquest: Europe, China, India, and even some medium-sized powers such as the United Arab Emirates or South Africa.

We are now entering a new space race where private interests - such as Space X, Starlink, Virgin, Blue Origin, and others - bring radical innovations and cooperate with state agencies. The conflict in Ukraine has shown again the importance of space, not only to gather intelligence with spy satellites but also to access the internet through Starlink. The space conquest will change the face of geopolitics in the next decades.

In that context, Tim Marshall, the best-selling author of "Prisoners of Geography" (2015) and "The Power of Geography" (2021) is now publishing his new book, "The Future of Geography - How power and politics in space will change our world".