The space race is on again. But instead of the superpower rivalry of 30 years ago, the battle today is a commercial one - for satellite launches which can be worth billions of dollars.
And it could not have come at a worse time for China, which is seeking to increase its limited number of launches while coping with a delayed programme following a string of disasters involving Long March rockets.
Russia has scored a coup over its former communist foe by snatching the launch of AsiaSat's third broadcasting satellite away from China's Great Wall Corporation.
Unlike its two predecessors, the satellite will not be launched from a Chinese-built rocket but from a powerful Proton rocket involving Western marketing and Russia's experience with 30 years of launches.
It will be among the first ventures with the West for Russia's Khrunichev/Energia companies which are behind the programme with the US Lockheed Martin organisation.
Asia Pacific Space Report editor Brian Jeffries says market confidence in Long March rockets will only be restored by a proper investigation of the disaster and appropriate action.
