

China […] without the politics and waste
Wrong. China’s politics and waste may look different, they’re still there in huge amounts. Institutionalized corruption and cultural corner cutting, whether for a capitalist goal, or a power control and egocentrism goal, are still corruption and corner cutting.
The “space race” has always been a propaganda stunt.
There is a reason you don’t hear about every experimental result from the ISS, those are actual scientific achievements and not propaganda, while a guitar on the ISS or how to drink water, end up on the news.