China is keen to dethrone the United States as the world's main aerospace power.
The Asian giant believes that space holds numerous military, technological, and economic advantages.
And officials in Beijing are committed to doing everything it takes to fully harness these
benefits. This includes spending hundreds of billions of dollars on space research,
satellites, weapons, and an all-new orbit station that will be ready later this year.
Join us in this video as we explain why China is getting ready to take over space.
But how did we even get here?
And how will the Chinese space hub compare to the International Space Station?
Let's find out together.
The United States gets the lion's share of all the recognition for space exploration;
Russia often gets some accolades, too, due to their collaborative efforts with the US in keeping
the International Space Station (ISS) afloat. However, it would interest you to know that
China is one of the first countries to attempt space exploration.
In fact, records have it that the People’s Republic of China
and the US were developing space technologies together as far back as the early 50s.
However, the Chinese space adventure officially began in October 1956 when
the country’s first rocket research institution was commissioned.
One year later, China signed a deal with the Soviet Union
for the research and development of missiles. History was made in February
1962 as the first Chinese-made liquid propulsion rocket set sail for orbit.
This was immediately followed by the launch of China's first Ballistic missile in 1964.
Essentially, China’s space exploration attempts reached
new heights in the year 1970 when a Long March 1 rocket
successfully launched the first Chinese-made satellite, the Dongfanghong 1, to space.
With this achievement, the People's Republic of
China became only the fifth country to launch satellites using its own rockets.
Following this success, the China Aerospace Industry Corporation was inaugurated in June
1993. And since then, the Chinese space project has continued to advance at an incredible pace.
Today, China is only the third country in the world with the capacity to recover satellites
from orbit. China also has the capability of launching multiple satellites with one rocket.
Only a few other countries have the technology and knowledge to match this.
However, the biggest event in China’s space exploration history happened in 2003,
when the country sent its first human space rocket into orbit.
A Long March 2F rocket, also known as the Shenzhou V, took off from the Jiuquan launch site with
astronaut Yang Liwei on board. The former air force pilot circled the earth 14 times before
returning to earth 22 hours later. This was one achievement that proved too big to be ignored
as congratulatory messages trickled in from all corners,
including one from NASA and another from the United Nations.
Before then, only the United States and Russia had independently sent humans to space.
Anyway, Yang Liwei received a heroic welcome, but more importantly,
China’s quest to enforce itself as one of the dominant countries in space took a huge leap.
To further buttress this stance, China announced plans to build a fully functional space station.
That looked like mission impossible at first, but as we speak,
the core of the Tiangong space station which was launched last year is already orbiting in space.
And we hear that it will begin full-scale operation later this year.
By the time it is completed, Tiangong, which means heavenly palace,
might be the only permanent space station in orbit.
The aging ISS, which is jointly operated by the United States and Russia, will be decommissioned
by 2030. This event could be fast-tracked by the unhealthy relationship between both countries.
But what exactly is the Tiangong space hub
like and how will it compare with the International space station?
Before we jump into the next section, if you've made it this far,
make sure to like and subscribe for more content like this.
More than anything else, the most fascinating thing about China’s Tiangong space station
is that every single piece of it will be designed
and manufactured locally by Chinese engineers and robots.
But even if the country wanted to outsource,
there’s very little chance of getting help from other countries.
We know that Russia and China are close friends, and both have been sharing
technological intelligence, so, to some extent, Russia might be willing to help.
But with the United States, it’s an entirely different case.
At the moment, the economic and diplomatic relationship between
the US and China has gone from bad to worse.
The Wolf Amendment, introduced by the US Congress in 2011, prevents NASA from
collaborating on space technology with China or any corporation linked with it.
As a result, Chinese astronauts were also banned from visiting
or working on the International Space Station.
And to a large extent, this was one of the biggest factors that forced China
to speed up its space program and build a space station of its own.
The thing about building in space is that you cannot erect the entire structure at once.
So, space stations are typically constructed in modules. After which,
the components must be launched independently before they're finally assembled in orbit.
As at the time of making this video, the International Space Station is made up of
16 modules. China’s Tiangong is expected to have three, but the Tianhe module,
which is the main core of the station, is currently in space.
Two more modules, the Wentian and Mengtian, will be lofted in July and October,
respectively. All three modules will have toilets, sleeping areas, and experiment cabins.
On average, any of the modules is expected to accommodate three astronauts. Usually,
there are always six astronauts working on the ISS. And in 2009,
a record 13 astronauts were pictured aboard the facility at the same time.
China could well match or even surpass this record if they decide to add more modules.
The Tiangong space station is smaller,
but it’s actually fitted with more advanced technologies than the ISS.
For instance, when the ISS operates at full scale, it burns around 9 tons of fuel annually.
To keep fuel consumption down, the Tiangong space station is powered by a hybrid system
of solar panels and gasoline engines. This also helps to curb weight as well.
And on top of that, China says the propulsion system in the Tiangong
space station is five times better than the one installed in the ISS.
Unlike the ISS though, the Tiangong will also have a Telescope of its own.
According to reports, the Xuntian Space Telescope will co-orbit around the Tiangong
so that it can always return to the space station to refuel and undergo upgrades.
When it eventually enters service in 2024, the Xuntian, which means heavenly cruiser,
will feature a 2.5 billion pixels camera and 300 times
more field view than the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990.
In addition, the high-end telescope will allow China
to view 40% of the earth over the next decade.
China insists that the Tiangong space station will be used for experiments to drive social,
economic, military, and technological developments. But it’s glaring that
there are some underlying political motives to the project as well.
Officials in Beijing say that the facility will be accessible for countries who are willing to
collaborate. This means that instead of using the ISS, other nations can conduct experiments
in Tiangong. Sounds like a good idea for countries like Russia but for others who have strong ties
with the US, their loyalty will for sure be tested. And considering that the ISS is retiring
soon, the Tiangong might be the only permanent orbiting space station in a few years from now.
If this happens, it would represent a significant shift of power and dominance in the world beyond.
However, there are rumors that the United States and Russia will immediately return
to space with space stations of their own as soon as the ISS is decommissioned.
The US intelligence community has raised an alarm about China’s intensified space
exploration program. Some analysts even claim that the Chinese military is capable
of coordinating a war from space with the help of sophisticated sensors and
hypersonic weapons that travel up to five times the speed of light.
Others have outrightly classified China’s space exploration growth as a security threat to the US.
As an aside, China also has separate spaceflight missions to explore the moon and planet mars.
Coincidentally, all these lightning quick advancements are coming at a
time where the US is seemingly slowing down its space exploration programs.
China wouldn’t care too much though. This is clearly an opportunity to claim its place
in space, and it’s one that the Chinese government is looking to take with both hands.
Do you support China’s increased participation in space?
Should the US be worried?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Be sure to check out this video over here.