Actually, I don't know much about China's rockets to argue with you. I'm not from China and I do not know much about them except that they are clearly more advance then you guys by far. Iran could even launch a human to space before India can.
As for what your points, there is no such a thing as a rich or poor democracy. A country can be poor or rich but it has nothing to do with democracy or autocratic. But there are maturity of people and culture that would make a country be successful in democracy. Namely, democracy means that people are the masters of government. If a country where majority of people are in poverty, they won't really care about the government except what the government can do to alleviate their hunger. They would even sell their votes for a meal. How can a democracy work in such a situation.
