Elon Musk just exposed this China mysterious space plane after a nine-month orbital Voyage
the Chinese mysterious space plane has returned to Earth an experimental Chinese
spacecraft landed back to Earth on Monday after spending 276 days in orbit according
to Chinese official media completing a major mission to test the country's reusable space
Technologies and so in today's episode let's investigate what this Chinese spacecraft did
in space for nine months is the U.S in the space race against China stay tuned as the
tech billionaire Elon Musk will update us all hello everyone and welcome back to Elon Musk
Evolution where we bring you the most recent news about Elon Musk and his multi-billion
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videos according to State media the unmanned spacecraft returned to the June Quan launch
facility in Northwest China on Monday as planned musk says there was no information provided about
the spacecraft what technologies were tested how high it went or where its orbits had carried it
after its launch in early August 2022 the Craft's images have likewise yet to be made public
according to State media the test represents an important advance in China's study of reusable
spacecraft technology that will offer a more practical and affordable option to
launch upcoming space missions similar spacecraft may have flown to the edge of space in 2021 and
returned to Earth on the same day in a mission that was similarly completely secret according
to China's leading space contractor at the time it touched down horizontally on Earth
Chinese social media commentators have made claims that China is working on a spaceship similar to
the one being developed by the United States the X-37B is an autonomous spacecraft operated by the
Air Force it may spend years in orbit on at Sixth and most recent flights the unmanned reusable
x-37v spent more than 900 days in orbit before landing on the planet in November of last year
recall that in November according to tracking information from the U.S space force China's
secret reusable spacecraft released an object into orbit and after 90 days in orbit the spacecraft
raised its perigee to change to a nearly circular 597 by 608 kilometer orbit perigee is the point in
an orbit where a spacecraft is closest to Earth musk stated a nearby object has been tracked
by the 18th space defense Squadron of the U.S space force on October 31st a new entry was made
in the spacetrack.org database for an object that was in the same orbit as the spacecraft
the unidentified object whose nature is unknown is most likely very close to the spacecraft thus
it was only included to the database once it could be identified as a distinct separate item
with a high degree of confidence the release of the object may have occurred at any point
between October 24th and October 31st according to orbital focuses Robert Christie who also observes
that station keeping Maneuvers were likely used to keep the craft close to the Spaceport since
issuing a brief statement marking the spacecraft's launch China has not provided any Mission updates
according to musk objects have been jettisoned from the spaceship before after its initial
two-day mission in September 2020 China spacecraft released an object after two orbits and deorbited
it afterwards for several weeks after the object continued to emit s-band Transmissions
it's possible that the object is a smaller satellite used to keep an eye on the spacecraft
banksing tiny companion satellites were previously launched by Chinese crew capsules for surveillance
purposes it might also serve as a trial for placing smaller satellite payloads in orbit
astronomer and spacecraft tracker Jonathan McDowell pointed out in a tweet that another
theory is that the object is a service module about China's space plane program little is
known the two missions of the spacecraft were only revealed by Chinese space authorities after
the spacecraft had already entered orbit however in August hence about the size and shape of the
craft started to surface online in the form of what looked to be photos of the mission's payload
fairing varying of cz2f Rocket which launched the SSS HQ on August 5th being openly exhibited
in hinen xuan number one middle school if the bumps are spare spaces for Wing CSS hq's wingspan
could be larger than fairing's diameter 4.2 meter this tweet from cnsa Watcher August 14 2022 the
development of an orbital component for a fully reusable two-stage to orbit space transportation
system looks to be connected to the ship in September of this year a sub-orbital section that
uses a vertical takeoff and horizontal Landing completed a second trip the Natural Science
Foundation of China recently provided financing for the research at the national level according
to the China Academy of launch vehicle technology or calt which is developing the vehicles the
project is seen as supporting the development of China's scientific and technological power
Aerospace power and transportation power it also has practical social technological economic and
other application values China is thinking about pursuing further reusable spacecraft
or space plane projects tingyon is the name of the spacecraft that the Chinese Aerospace Science and
Industry Corporation or Kasich is developing while space Transportation a for-profit company raised
more than 46.3 million dollars last year to fund its aspirations to build a Hypersonic spacecraft
likewise a number of Chinese rocket companies have produced presentations that show off ideas
for liquid rockets and miniature space planes as launch vehicles is the US in a space race against
China following many of the thrilling launches in recent years headlines announcing the emergence
of a new space race between the United States and China have become popular in media reports a new
environment where China is directly vying with the US for Supremacy is forming according to experts
and China's quick gains in space are evidence of this given the larger story of China's rise
the notion of a race to the moon between China and the US sounds plausible but how true is it
let's find out the idea that the US and China have nearly comparable space capabilities as
implied by the term race in the current situation however the U.S is significantly Superior to China
and all other space-faring countries combined in several major areas let's start with the funding
the United States space budget was around 59.8 billion dollars in 2021. over the past 10 years
China has made significant investments in Space and Rocket Technologies and in the last five
years its spending has doubled with a projected budget of 16.18 billion dollars in 2021 it still
will only account for a small portion of the U.S budget likewise the U.S dominates by a wide margin
in terms of active satellites there are 5465 active satellites orbiting the Earth at this
time 3433 of them or 63 percent are run by the United States China in contrast has 541. the US's
more functional spaceports than does China the U.S has more possibilities for launching payloads into
different orbits thanks to its seven operating launch sites at home and abroad and the at least
13 additional spaceports that are now under development China in comparison only has four
operational spaceports with plans for two more all of which are situated on its own soil while
the U.S may have a definite advantage over China and many aspects of space there are some areas
where the differences between the two nations are more subtle for instance China trade 55 orbital
launches in 2021 for more than the United States did with 51. although the sums may be similar the
payloads that the rocket since into orbit were considerably different 84 percent of Chinese
launches contained government or military payloads mostly for electronic intelligence and Optical
Imaging in contrast 61 percent of launches in the US were for non-military academic or commercial
purposes primarily for Earth observation or Telecommunications another instance of a topic
with significant distinctions hidden beneath the surfaces space stations the US has operated the
International Space Station in cooperation with 14 other countries since the 1990s including Russia
with 16 modules the ISS is quite big and has sped up scientific and technological advancements the
participating Nations however are preparing to remove the ISS in 2030 as it will be 24 years old
by then the newest kid on the Block is the Chinese Tian dong Space Station construction on this much
smaller structure which only has three modules was finally finished in late 2022 even though
it extended an invitation to others to join China built and launched every component of the station
and continues to be its sole operator undoubtedly China is increasing its space capabilities and
according to a projection released by The Pentagon in August 2022 China will exceed
American space capabilities as early as 2045. although the United States continues to boost
spending for space exploration it is unlikely that it will remain stagnant the type and volume
of global Partnerships represent a significant area of distinction between the US and China
has been successfully fostering International and business alliances in a variety of areas from the
development of specialized space Technologies to the launch of astronauts into space for
many years furthermore the U.S government is 129 commercial Partners seven academic institutions
and 33 States and multilateral organizations on 169 space data sharing agreements likewise China
has space related allies most notably Russia and countries that are part of the asia-pacific space
cooperation organization such as Iran Pakistan Thailand and turkey the number of China's Partners
is smaller and their space capabilities are much less advanced this contrast an ally support and
Synergy is beautifully illustrated by efforts to return to the moon's surface both the U.S and
China have Ambitions to send astronauts to the Moon surface and build bases there in the near
future they are significantly different in terms of alliances and Scopia they are frequently used
as examples of the Space Race with relation to those rival lunar objectives Russia and
China decided to travel to the Moon together by 2028 and 2019. China is enhancing its cheongi
robotic spacecraft while Russia contributes its Luna Landers and Oriole crude orbiters
although the Chinese and Russian plans to establish an international lunar research
station are open to all interested parties and international Partners no other nations have
joined the Chinese and Russian Endeavor as of yet on the other hand the U.S led Artemis Accords have
gained the support of 24 countries since 2020. this multi-national agreement specifies common
principles of collaboration for future space activities and through the Artemis program
expressly seeks to send people back to the Moon by 2025 and to create a moon base in lunar space
station shortly thereafter a staggering number of private firms have signed contracts with the
Artemis program to develop a range of Technologies including lunar Islanders construction techniques
on the moon and More in addition to the program's widespread worldwide participation other nations
have space capabilities and objectives that compete with China's despite the fact that
it might initially appear that China is the US's principal space foe India invests enormous sums
of money in space and has immediate Ambitions to visit the moon once more maybe alongside Japan
independent lunar missions are also being planned by South Korea Israel Japan the United Arab
Emirates turkey Germany and the European Union Japan has created outstanding space techno analogy
that Rivals and even exceeds China's including Rendezvous proximity technology which allows a
spacecraft to send a spacecraft to an asteroid and return samples to Earth whoever could leave
Earth and travel to the Stars first won the space race in the past today the objective is to endure
and perhaps flourish in the hostile environment of space despite having a clear Advantage the US
has teamed with other countries to travel to the Moon and Beyond which is not surprising
on a smaller scale China is carrying out the same action the picture that takes shape is not one of
a race but rather of a sophisticated system in which the U.S serves as the leader and closely
collaborates with vast networks of Partners for now let's take a peek at the China Space Station
humans can now live outside of the International Space Station three taikanots the Chinese word for
astronauts were aboard the shinshell 15 Mission when it was launched from China's Gobi Desert on
November 29 2022 they arrived at the Chinese space station Tian gon which means Heavenly
Palace in Mandarin six hours later the previous crew that assisted in completing construction was
replaced by the three taikonots China is now only the third country in the world to run a permanent
space station thanks to this successful trip with the construction of its space station China has
cemented its place as one of the world's top three space Powers alongside the US and Russia
we have been closely monitoring the advancement of the Chinese space station as experts in space law
and policy who also oversee the space governance program at the Indiana University Ostrom Workshop
Tian gong on the other hand is totally Chinese built and run as opposed to The Cooperative
U.S led International Space Station science is about to get interesting thanks to the station's
Flawless launch the station is a significant step for China toward realizing its bigger
space objectives in the context of a shifting balance of power in space however it also serves
as a symbol of the nation's self-reliance strategy three decades of work on the Chinese human space
flight program have culminated in the Tian gong space station three modules that were launched
separately and joined in orbit together make up the 55 meter long station these include a core
module which can house up to six taikanots and two experiment modules which together have a total
volume of 110 cubic meters or roughly one-fifth the size of the International Space Station
the station also features three docking ports for cruise ships and resupply vehicles as well as an
exterior robotic arm that can support tasks and experiments outside the structure the Tian gong
space station like China's aircraft carriers and other spacecraft is based on a Soviet era design
it is essentially a replica of the Soviet Mir Space Station from the 1980s however there has
been a significant modernization and enhancement of the Tian gong station with two crude trips
lasting six months each and two cargo missions each year the Chinese space station is expected to
remain in orbit for 15 years one of the scheduled studies on monkey reproduction has already started
in the biological test cabinets of the station and the science test have all started it's another
story entirely if the monkeys will cooperate the Tian gong station's primary purpose is to carry
out research on Space life over 1 000 experiments are scheduled to be conducted over the next 10
years with a particular emphasis on learning about how various plants animals and microorganisms grow
and evolve although China solely built-in is in charge of Tian gong other countries are welcome
to join in on experiments there nine projects from 17 countries have so far been chosen Tian gong
and the research conducted there will benefit China's future space missions despite the new
station's relatively small size in comparison to the 16 modules of the International Space Station
a brand new Space Telescope will be launched by China in December 2023. this telescope will
survey stars and supermassive black holes among other tasks with a resolution roughly equivalent
to the Hubble Space Telescope but with a larger field of view each statement needs maintenance
the telescope will dock with the station China also intends to send several trips to Mars as
well as nearby comets and asteroids with the aim of returning samples to Earth most significantly
though there is no estimated time frame for this Expedition China and Russia have revealed plans to
construct a Cooperative Moon Outpost in a recent report to assist the country to get ready for
future lunar exploration Chinese scientists have constructed a chamber that mimics the conditions
on the moon's surface the specifically engineered vacuum chamber is equipped with an electron Cannon
to negatively charge dust deuterium lamps to produce UV rays to generate low voltage
positive electrical charge and a vibrating screen to simulate flying dust the facility scientists
have created a dust particle counterpart with characteristics resembling those of moondust these
components come together to create a chamber that can test products and materials under simulated
lunar conditions the comprehensive lunar surface simulator helps us understand the lunar dust
formation mechanism in such an environment and its effects on spacecraft space suits and astronauts
and prepares us for a crude moon laning in the future it's the dawn of a brand new age in Space
the International Space Station which has been in orbit for more than 20 years is scheduled to be
shut down by 2030 as the Tian gong station begins its mission the ISS serves as a prime illustration
of Cooperative space goals in the early 1990s the U.S and the Soviet Union collaborated after
the cold War's height to build and launch the first iterations of the space station China
and the US in contrast have not always had such a good time when they interact orbitally
there were worries that China was unintentionally acquiring or stealing U.S technology in the 1990s
when China was still sending U.S satellites into space these worries were a contributing
factor in Congress passing the wolf amendment in 2011 which imposes strong limitations on NASA's
ability to work with China in any capacity as the International Space Station was being built in the
1990s and early 2000s China's space program was not yet developed enough to participate China was
unable to contribute to the ISS by the time it was able to do so because of the wolf Amendment
the future evolution of the space collaboration roadmap is somewhat uncertain more than 20 Nations
have already signed on as partners of the U.S led armitus initiative which aims to create a
self-sustaining community on the moon with that being said do you think China is a threat to the
United States let us know in the comment box below and that ends today's episode please subscribe and
don't forget to like today's video and we'll see you in the next one thanks for watching