Alt Hist Nations in Space Race?

Glen

Moderator
I don't doubt they could adapt Euro technology and improve upon it, much like they had anything else they came into contact with from Europeans. (That's partly why they became such legendary ironworkers for example.) I have a hard time imagining a POD where they remain independent, as much as I'd like to see it. Or have a big enough population for an industrial base for it.

Think earlier contact with the Old World, slower exchange between the two, and more aggressive adoption of Western technologies and methods.
 

Glen

Moderator
What about a Mexico that wins the Mexican-American War?

Theoretically possible if we have a timeline with PODs starting in the 1800s, but since someone also wanted a CSA for such a timeline, a victorious Mexico in the Mexican-American War would be a tough fit.
 
No, that could work. Mexico wins the war, then the USA is even weaker, leading to CSA independence, somehow.
That could work.
 
Don't know for certain, but heck, Florida and California aren't necessarily ideal for launches yet we've done those in the US.


Vandenburg is as good as anywhere for polar orbits, it has an expanse of ocean downrange. The Cape isn't as close to the equator as Koru or the mooted Cape York, but it has a lot of downrange room. In contrast the Japanese launch facility is further north of the equator and needs to have a nearby village fully evacuated before a launch.
 
What Alternate Nations would you like to see in a multilateral space race?

Some might include:

  • Holy Roman Empire
  • Austria-Hungary
  • Byzantine Empire
  • Ottoman Empire
  • Mameluke Egypt
  • Kalmar Union (or parallel)
  • Tsarist Russia
  • Poland-Lithuania
  • Jurchen/Mongolian Empire
  • Chinese Empire

Thoughts, ideas? Ideally I'd like to see how many of the most popular ones we could get to survive to a space race (I'm already thinking of having both a surviving Byzantine AND an Ottoman Empire simultaneously which means we're not going to have PODs before the early 1300s for this one). Please, only serious recommendations (Andorra will not be considered).

My current story (Gates of Wrath) has :-

British Empire
German Empire
Greek Empire
Egyptian Caliphate
Spanish Empire
French Empire (only just putting their first person into space)
Kwarazam
Japan
China

as the space powers

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Possible. What were you thinking?

The city of karakoum as Capital to a nation encompassing Mongolia, northern China and parts of Central asia is the main sucessor state to the Mongol Empire. Perhaps Sung China is never conquered, leading to a more enduring Great Khanate.

Asia B.png
 
Don't know for certain, but heck, Florida and California aren't necessarily ideal for launches yet we've done those in the US.

Florida is actually about as close to ideal as you can get (if you ignore the swamps, I suppose). There's a huge body of water just to the east, but there's a chain of islands for thousands of miles that make ideal places for scientists to biuld stations and watch the rocket tests. The point was that Incan test rockets would fly right over whatever was in Brazil, which might cause Tension. But it may be that the modern Incas expanded southward, and then they can launch from Tierra del Fuego.
 
Well, first we'd just need them to survive as an independent entity until a space race begins. They may not be the prime drivers, but could participate in that world and maybe collaborate with others. On the other hand, with a far enough POD and some liberal Meijization, I think its a possibility.

I wouldn't really consider that a space race, though. If they're just grabbing and adapting tech from other cultures, they'd be behind everyone else, if only just barely. Maybe small innovations and collaborations, but you're not going to get the first man on the moon or the first LEO satellite or anything coming from the Iroquois.
 
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