-- Robert Browning, from the poem "Andrea Del Sarto"
You don't have to be a global giant to reach for the stars or to benefit from the pecuniary promise of space-age technologies. Thanks to the growing availability of public and private launch vehicles, "off-the-shelf" tech for kitting out satellites and serious opportunities for research collaboration, even the smallest nations on Earth can dream big.
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Sure, these Lilliputian lands might not plant a flag on the moon, but their Brobdingnagian ambitions are no less symbolically or economically important to their people. For countries of a few million persons inhabiting a couple hundred square miles of land, designing a new sensor for another country's satellite or sending astronauts to the International Space Station are all monumental undertakings.
As you'll see in this article, if you're a mighty mite with a big space dream, it helps to have a strong economy, some able associates and solid trade partners. A hi-tech background doesn't hurt either.