I love space. I'm a child of the space age, born just a year or two before Sputnik went up. I've been on and off interested in astronomy since I was a kid. The push into space has brought all kinds of benefits to the people of this world.

This article though has really upset me. Aotearoa is a tiny country and has no business trying to 'keep up' with the big kids. This whole 'per capita' rubbish is so bogus!

NZ lagging behind most comparable countries on space spend per capita | RNZ News:

The government is spending almost 20 times less on space per head than the United States, and half that of the United Kingdom.

The first sector survey in six years shows five out of the seven rival space countries New Zealand compares itself to are ahead on government funding.

And those 'comparable' countries? In what possible way should we compare ourselves to (thanks Claude for the rounded numbers)? :

  • United States: 331 million
  • Germany: 83 million
  • France: 67 million
  • United Kingdom: 67. million
  • Italy: 59 million
  • Korea (South Korea): 52 million
  • Canada: 37 million
  • New Zealand: 5 million

How about instead ensuring we compare favourably, or even excel at making sure everyone has a healthy place to live, enough food and suitable fulfilling work?