Republic of Korea (Franz Lives!)

Post Great War
in 1932, Korea gained independence from Japan, and the new president, Yuh Woon-Hyung, decided that Korea was to modernise in order to survive.

Space race
with far more resources at its disposal, Korea joins the Space race in 1941. It gets a probe into space in 1946 called Explorer.

Demographics
Korea has a population fo around 72 million people.