AUSTRALIA is launching its space agency this week in an effort to capture a share of the booming space market. The Australian government has committed A$26 million ($19 million) over four years to set up its operations and a further A$15 million ($11 million) over three years to invest in research and development.

The funding is fairly small – NASA has an annual budget of $20 billion and the European Space Agency’s is $7 billion – meaning that missions to Mars are off …