
Errata
"The UK, for instance, has never built a rocket capable of [putting a satellite in orbit]"
Not so. Details of the UK's former satellite launch capbility are here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7862827.stm
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Arrow
Although the line "As of 2007, the UK is the only state to have successfully developed and then abandoned satellite launch capability" is pretty damning in itself.