[Serpiko]

If I had to guess, I'd say that the "space race" is still ongoing... it just changed some rules: instead of being an expensive struggle to be "the first one" to make something, it is now an "endurance" competition, where the winner is the one who gets a valid, reliable and cost effective (thus affordable) space vector, granting the "space superiority" in terms of "I can send to space everything I want, when I want, with minimum risks and low costs". We're not just talking about military applications, but scientific research and commercial interests as well. Whoever reaches this objective, be it a nation or a private company, is likely to become one of the greatest powers of the 21st century.