1. Naturally occurring obsidian glass was used by Stone Age societies as it fractures along very sharp edges, making it ideal for cutting tools and weapons.[20][21] Glassmaking dates back to at least 6000 years, long before humans had discovered how to smelt iron.[20] Archaeological evidence suggests that the first true synthetic glass was made in Lebanon and the coastal north Syria, Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt.[22][23] The earliest known glass objects, of the mid-third millennium BCE, were beads, perhaps initially created as accidental by-products of metalworking (slags) or during the production of faience, a pre-glass vitreous material made by a process similar to glazing.[24] Early glass was rarely transparent and often contained impurities and imperfections,[20] and is technically faience rather than true glass, which did not appear until 15th century BC.[25] However, red-orange glass beads excavated from the Indus Valley Civilization dated before 1700 BC (possibly as early as 1900 BC) predate sustained glass production, which appeared around 1600 in Mesopotamia and 1500 in Egypt.[26][27] During the Late Bronze Age there was a rapid growth in glassmaking technology in Egypt and Western Asia.[22] Archaeological finds from this period include coloured glass ingots, vessels, and beads.[22][28] Much early glass production relied on grinding techniques borrowed from stoneworking, such as grinding and carving glass in a cold state.[29]
I might be generalizing and stereotyping, but the (ancient) Chinese seem more the touchy feely type, especially when you compare medical practices; also, not quite sure if they ever thought long and hard about atomic theory.
2. Inventing something, or improving it, is one thing; profitting from it is another. Warfare is very Darwinistic, existentially so, so patents and intellectual property rights usually go out the window, with exceptions like licensing stuff like Bofors or Oerlikons. It's usually during these periods that innovations proliferate, and currently, there's a Cold War amongst our megacorporations.
3.The Imperium could have applied debt trap diplomacy to finance building of local starports, but I'm inclined to discount that, since it probably was very clear from the very beginning that they have an agency that would run the place. It's possible that after expenses, it could be in private ownership and net profits flow to those entities, which leaves the question, what happens if it's operating at a loss?
4. It comes down to an existing (or easily built up) industrial base, with access to energy and resources, like a trained workforce. Access to resources could mean having a military machine or by diplomatic means that ensure access to said resources, if they aren't locally available.
5. Ease of commerce and regulatory hurdles.
6. Security.
