According to an Ars Technica story, China's state-owned rocket maker, the China Academy
of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), produced a video that has raised a few eyebrows for
displaying a virtually identical duplicate of Space X's Starship spaceship drawings.
As the adage goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
On the exhibit floor of China's "National Space Day" symposium in Nanjing,
keen onlookers saw some relatively strong flattery flowing the way of Space X.
So, here's everything we need to know about how China is ripping off Space X.
Clone of a Starship In 2017, SpaceX demonstrated
their vision for the future: an end-to-end transportation system that could carry you
anywhere on the planet in a matter of hours by rocketing into near space onboard the "BFR."
Four years later, that idea of what is now known as the Starship system has advanced significantly,
with SpaceX now concentrating on sending the first people to the surface of Mars using
the same rocket within the next decade or so. China now wants to be a part of the same idea.
According to promotional movies released by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology,
the country's state-owned rocket manufacturer, the country has a
shockingly similar ambition — effectively a Starship clone, as Ars Technica writes.
China's sixth "National Space Day" was observed in Nanjing,
the capital of one of the country's eastern provinces. Chinese space authorities used
the occasion to emphasize the Chang'e-5 mission's recent return of lunar samples,
some of which were on exhibit, and unveil the name Zhurong for China's first Mars rover.
The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology had a display that highlighted the possibility for
suborbital point-to-point transportation. This is a concept in which a vehicle takes off from Earth,
travels through suborbital space, and lands halfway around the planet in about an hour.
Similarities that are Startling China's proposal is very similar to
the shiny stainless-steel coated Starship and its associated Super Heavy rocket.
One scene, which shows the rocket landing on a pad in front of a cityscape,
is similar to SpaceX's initial 2017 movie demonstrating their "BFG" concept.
The promotional film, which was shot and published on Weibo in China, depicts two potential plans
for attaining suborbital passenger flights in the next two decades. The video is noteworthy
since the initial design looks very similar to SpaceX's Starship spacecraft.
It depicts a gigantic vehicle that can take off and land vertically.
The idea is remarkable not just for its similarity to Starship in appearance—the vehicle's exterior
is gleaming, comparable to Starship's stainless steel construction, and the first and second
stages are similarly seamless—but also for its purpose. SpaceX has designed a point-to-point idea
for Starship, chiefly pushed as a spacecraft to transport humans to the Moon and Mars.
This "Earth to Earth" idea was initially revealed by SpaceX in September 2017. A video from the time
touted a suborbital flight duration of about 39 minutes from New York City to Shanghai aboard
Starship, as well as the capacity to travel "everywhere on Earth in less than an hour."
In the Chinese film, the second point-to-point design featured a horizontal takeoff,
horizontal landing vehicle that employed an electromagnetic catapult.
These technologies are part of China's intentions to build worldwide point-to-point transportation
by 2045, which was previously stated. According to the country's long-term planning plans,
Chinese business will send freight around the world through the
suborbital flight by 2035 and people by 2045. This would not be the first time that SpaceX has
influenced the Chinese space program. The country has been following SpaceX since its inception,
with a particular interest in its intentions to reuse rocket first stages. According to the book
Liftoff, a Chinese surveillance boat was in the little piece of the ocean where the Falcon
1 rocket's first stage was expected to return during the company's very first launch in 2006.
In 2019, the Chinese Long March 2C rocket tested "grid fins" similar to those employed
by the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage to navigate itself through the atmosphere during reentry.
China plans to build the Long March 8 rocket to land on a sea platform like the Falcon 9 booster,
while Chinese semi-private companies like LinkSpace and Galactic Energy
appear to be copying SpaceX's launch technology.
It's unclear whether China will construct a Starship-like interplanetary transport vehicle.
For the time being, China wants to create the Long March 9 rocket, a more traditional super
heavy lifter, and a triple-core booster similar to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.
A knock-off of a Starship Despite the fact that China has previously
stated its intention to become the world leader in point-to-point transportation by 2045,
the films' parallels are startling. Not least because this isn't the first
time the country's government has been accused of plagiarizing SpaceX designs;
in 2020, the country flew a reusable space capsule that was compared to SpaceX's Crew Dragon design.
Though China is now concentrating its efforts on developing the Long March 9 heavy-lift rocket,
the country's state-owned rocket firm is definitely taking lessons from SpaceX.
It's not surprising that China has appreciated and closely studied what SpaceX has accomplished
thus far. China has long revealed many ambitious ambitions that have obviously
aspired to at least equal other nations, foot for foot, in the global space race,
alongside the United States, the European Union, Japan, and India. Now, in an odd turn of events,
China appears to have taken a personal interest in emulating the achievements of Western nations in
space. The outcome was a recent presentation that demonstrated a sub-orbital earth-to-earth rocket,
and while many are working on the concept,
China has the distinction of creating a rocket that appears identical to a Spitfire.
Will China steal its way to victory in the Space Race?
Former NASA administrator Daniel Goldin recently cautioned that unless the US makes some
adjustments, China could soon overtake the United States as the world leader in space research.
While the news is alarming, it shouldn't come as a surprise. For years, the Pentagon has warned
lawmakers that China is developing a space warfare arsenal that is not only eerily comparable to what
they have, but also puts America's space infrastructure at a serious disadvantage.
"China is attempting to establish control of low earth orbit in order to destroy the
United States on Earth," said Richard Fisher, an expert on China's military affairs at the
International Assessment and Strategy Center. Fisher isn't wrong, despite his bluntness.
China successfully hacked NASA computers thirteen times between 2011 and 2013. As a
result, the communist state isn't beyond stealing technology and intellectual property from private
American space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX. In reality, one of China's main goals has been
SpaceX. The suspected duplicate of Starship isn't the first time China has allegedly
stolen something from SpaceX. Musk has already alleged that China stole software from Tesla,
which is a national security issue because SpaceX also utilizes the same software.
Attempts have been made in the past to prohibit China from profiting from
its economic relationships with private US space companies. Former Senator Cory Gardner
introduced changes to the NASA Authorization Act last year that would have required the
Government Accountability Office to investigate NASA contractors for any business links to China
and to take any engagement with China into account when awarding contracts. Although Congress did not
take up this legislative language last year, it may be worthwhile to revisit and re-propose
these revisions to safeguard America's national security interests. Regardless
of whether Gardner's plan is the greatest method, it is evident that Congress must act.
However, one thing is clear: China is strongly influenced by SpaceX technology.
So that’s it for the recent news of China, and its buzzing issue on copying Space X. For more
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