“Now, India, China, and Japan are all considering permanent space presence including beamed power and a permanent space infrastructure.”
I say good luck to them on getting the spaceplane built and operational. It’s not impossible for them to make it work but that is a very challenging technology to implement. Should be interesting to watch.
Case in point, the Soviet shuttle was designed for remote operation and ours was deliberately designed so that an awake aware and healthy person must be at the controls for takeoff and landing. A political decision to require MANNED spaceflight.
Plus, the Soviet shuttle had far more hauling capacity because they didn’t put huge engines in the structure.
Yes, the technology is difficult but USA and CCCP showed that it can be done. You don’t need to be an American to go into space.