Not to sound like a fanboy, but I think SpaceX would be a strong contender in any space race. Non-governmental, but very much pushing boundaries. edit: Hm, I'v

Not to sound like a fanboy, but I think SpaceX would be a strong contender in any space race. Non-governmental, but very much pushing boundaries. edit: Hm, I've never been downvoted on HN before. Care to explain why? I think my comment is adding to the discussion, in that OP was speculating only China could possibly be a contender in a space race. Certainly, SpaceX developing propulsive landing and reuse of the first stage is pretty game changing - liquid flyback boosters had only been proposed before, never actually created & used. SpaceX's ongoing experiments with fairing return leave me optimistic that it will work out fairly soon, too.