At present we have being looking across the world at a number of conflicts, writes John Howells.

Ukraine has been in the news now for so long it has become part of the daily reports. Looking towards the Middle East we have seen Israel fight in Lebanon and Gaza.

The Americans have spent months in a fruitless war with Iran, causing chaos for the world economy.

As we continue to look across the world at the many troubles our attention has thus been diverted from another direction where things are far from normal.

Rarely do I pick up a book and read it from cover to cover. The Future of Geography by Tim Marshall has been an exception He reflects on the ongoing battles in space.

The world has agreed that the Moon should not be owned by any one nation. With the Chinese having successfully landed on the far side of the moon and the USA China and Russia all wanting to set up a land base at the South Pole so they can cash in on potential rich minerals, the idea of mutual agreements may be no more than platitudes with little value.

At the moment satellites are key to modern life. They provide countries with eyes in the sky essential for keeping an eye on your enemies. Nations have monitored each other's space hardware and tests have been carried out to destroy those thought to be a threat.

The recent flypast of the moon and return by Armetis was presented as a wonderful adventure for all mankind. In reality it was the USA flexing its muscle, determined to beat the Chinese to have a moon base.

The big three plus Israel have been busy building rockets capable of being launched from Earth to eliminate satellites of their potential enemies The amount of money now being spent on space exploration across the world is colossal and increasing year on year. Accords on peaceful cooperation in space are not watertight.

The situation is made more complex as individuals such as Musk who have made it clear that they have their own agenda with him determined to set up a town on Mars.

It may all sound like science fiction but we are deluding ourselves if we believe that the antagonism evident on earth will not be translated up into space.

The Chinese proverb says it all "The first to arrive is the first to succeed".

It would appear that mankind has continued to fail to learn the lessons of history. As things stand, we look doomed to take our chaos up into the skies.

Albert Einstein with great insight wrote "Two things are infinite:the universe and human stupidity: I'm not sure about the universe".

It was only 120 years ago that aeroplane travel became a reality. The pace of technology advancement is rapid. Man on the moon will happen in the very near future. This will test the cooperation accords to its limit.

The last word rests with the father of communism. “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot stay in the cradle for ever”