Inspired by the successful landing of a probe on a comet this week, I've had space on my mind. And I've got a bit of a confession. 

I was always scared of space when I was a kid. I was a massive X-Files fan growing up, and the thought of going into space and getting abducted by aliens terrified me. Silly right? It still makes me uneasy - I think I may just leave that stuff to Mulder and Scully.

But space is pretty important. So much so, that countries like China and the United States spend billions on their space programmes each year. In fact, there are over 70 space programmes across the world in countries such as India, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

I mean, India and Nigeria still receive international aid. Why should they get aid funding to help support their poor when they’re busy funding their own space programmes?

The majority of space programmes aren't about astronauts and other planets (though China does have its sights on Mars), instead they focus on putting satellites into space, which can bring a multitude of benefits to developing countries. Satellites can enable mobile technology, which is able to help track vaccination programmes across the developing world, which means that vaccinations get to those that need them the most. The ability to manage and track data through satellites means that doctors no longer have to rely on pencil and paper to track vaccinated children.

As well as this, satellites are also able to monitor weather systems, meaning that developing countries like India are in a better place to protect their citizens from major natural disasters, as well as help their farmers protect crops against monsoons and other shifting weather patterns. The ability to accurately predict when a tornado is going to hit means that measures can be put in place to save lives and reduce damage to infrastructure.

Countries across the world also benefit from what is called "two way technology transfer". Often, new technology is developed for a space programme that is then engineered to serve a purpose in everyday life. Take solar powered refrigeration technology. This was developed by NASA’s Advanced Thermal Team to use out in space but had since been used in some of the most remote places on earth where the use of electricity is impossible. The very same technology that was used in space is now used to store vaccinations in the developing world - something that saves millions of lives. That’s pretty cool (sorry).

In order to develop and improve the lives of their people, countries need to innovate, find better ways of doing things, and embrace new opportunities that have been made possible by technology. Sometimes it might be less about about digging a deeper well to get to water, and more about knitting together high quality satellite images of river systems in order to understand where the water is.

So while it may initially sound like a strange idea that countries who get international aid also run their own space programmes, these programmes (in tandem with strengthening other parts of a nation's government and society) can play an important role in helping a country to make progress. Yes, space programmes are expensive, but it’s not rocket science (sorry...again) to see that they can really help.