Rail Baltica is a new, standard-gauge, electrified railway meant to integrate the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) into the European Union rail network and connect Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw. Rail Baltica is designed for ~200-249km/h passenger services and ~120km/h freight under the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

Rail Baltica is executed by RB Rail AS, a joint venture between the Baltic states with large co-funding coming from the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in addition to national budgets. The Commission has set a milestone toward completion in 2030. In 2024, RB Rail presented an updated cost-benefit analysis indicating a cost of around ~€26m/km and public estimates putting phase 1 (to ~2030) at about €15.3bn cost, with full build-out potentially higher. Baltic audit offices flagged a €10-19bn funding gap risk. Construction is ongoing across the corridor and by the end of 2025 around 43% of the mainline is expected to be in the construction phase. In July 2025 an additional €295.5m CEF funding was granted to the project.

The “Space Race” was a Cold War competition in space and rocketry between the US and USSR spanning from 1955 to the mid-1970s. Milestones include Sputnik (1957, USSR), Gagarin’s first human spaceflight (1961, USSR), and Apollo 11’s first crewed Moon landing (1969, USA).

While 1969 is often treated as a symbolic inflection point, US lunar victory was followed by Apollo mission cancellations, falling NASA budget share, and a shift toward détente. Competition continued (e.g., USSR’s Luna sample returns and Salyut space stations; US Skylab), culminating in the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.