Chinese involvement in space is interesting. Sending astronaut Yang Liwei into space in 2003 made them the third country to sending humans into orbit independently, and yet 27th on doing it with the aid of another nation (US or USSR/Russia), so while they have an impressive independence, they had lagged behind countries like Mongolia, Syria and Afghanistan.
China has burst onto the scene of astrological exploration, laying down a characteristically impressive ‘superpower-level’ investment into their Tiangong Space Station. While the five stars on their flag are said to stand for the minorities making up the Chinese nation, they could just as easily reference China’s meteoric rise with regard to their Space Agency.
Space Station
Orbiting at about the same distance from earth as the ISS, Tiangong Space Station (translating to ‘Heavenly Palace’) represents a huge leap in Chinese Space capacity. With all three components of the Space Station being sent up over a period of 19 months between April 2021-October 2022, the space station is indeed a significant boost; this can be seen in the 90-day mission for Chinese astronauts in June 2021, lasting 3 times longer than any previous Chinese manned mission.
It must be said that part of the reason for this station is necessity; the Wolf Amendment passed by Congress does not permit NASA to collaborate with the Chinese space program over concerns about its links to the military branch. Not being an ISS partner, China has never sent an astronaut there and so building their own presented itself as an attractive option
Lunar Exploration
In terms of lunar exploration, the Chang’e-4 mission (named after a Chinese moon goddess) in 2019 to the far side of the moon was another notable milestone in not only China’s progress but mankind’s, being the first mission to land on the far side of the moon. This huge leap was built off the success of their first lander on the near side in 2013. Chang’e-6 illustrates how the progress has far from slowed, as it returned from the far side of the moon in June of last year with an historic accomplishment: the first ever samples from the far side of the moon. This consists of up to 2 kilograms of moon dust and rocks, which, upon analysis, revealed evidence of volcanic activity on that side of the moon as well as approximating an age of 2.83bn years. Being looser and more porous in structure than samples from the near side, this mission is valuable for future efforts of moon colonisation. Finally, evidence would suggest a harsher attrition from asteroid strikes, etc. meaning the samples reveal information about the composition of not just the moon’s crust but also mantle, with the this attrition resulting in less uniform layers.
Looking into the future, next year China is preparing a mission to search for water in the moon’s South Pole. The Chang’e-7 mission includes a hopper, with its unprecedented design, that can navigate the moon’s treacherous terrain
Mars Exploration
The Tianwen-1 mission sent the Zhurong river to Mars, establishing China as one of the key players in what is by all accounts the next frontier of space travel. For 3 months from February to May 2021 the river studied surface geology and searched for water. Being the 3rd nation to make a soft landing on Mars and establish a communication link, further reinforces China’s place ‘in the stars (as it were) beside the USSR/Russia and USA, with the deployment of a rover a feat previously only accomplished by the Americans before this.
Space Exploration and Technology Development
International Collaboration and Competition
Over the next decade of continuous habitation, China sees Tiangong as playing host to not only Chinese experiments but also those of other countries - potentially another key tool in their growing ‘soft power’ arsenal
Collaboration in the past can be seen in the aforementioned Chang’e-4 mission, with Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Sweden all contributing payloads to the mission
Failures
That said, in the face of all of this success, you would be forgiven for thinking that it has all been plain sailing; this would be wrong. China has certainly had its fair share of difficulties, very much to be expected given its rapid rise. Tiangong-1 lost contact in 2016, before an uncontrolled re entry in 2018 over the Pacific Ocean; equally Tiangong-2 deorbited earlier than planned. Even the Zhurong Rover, after entering hibernation in May 2022 never woke up; the reason behind this is theorised to be due to dust accumulation on solar panels.
The Long March rockets 5B and 3B both resulted in serious damage, with the former dropping debris over Africa and the Indian Ocean, while the latter veered off course into a village of people
China’s vision for the future
As we move into a new era of ‘space race’, the moon and its potentially valuable resources are of interest to this world’s superpowers. Beijing has set the date for “taikonauts” on the moon as before 2030, potentially even 2027. Further on for this, the plans for the ILRS 2035 (International Lunar Research Station) have been revealed jointly by Russia and China, with the latter as the lead partner. This is only the preliminary stage as the extended model is roadmapped for 2050.
Overall, what is clear is that China’s space force is yet another aspect in which it fulfills its reputation as a global superpower, going toe-to-toe with US and Russia’s previous prestige. The present is bright but the future is even brighter.
