China Overtakes The U.S. And Will Be The Only Country With Its Own Space Station; To Take The Lead In Space Exploration, The Chinese Government Will Build A Base At The Moon’s South Pole With Russia

Chinese Space Program, Led by Its Military, Has Been Banned from the International Space Station, Mainly Due to Objections from the United States

China has once again committed to completing its space station in orbit by the end of the year and says it is planning more than 40 launches by 2022, which would bring it nearly to the same level as the United States. China’s lunar exploration program includes the construction of a scientific exploration base at the south pole of the Moon in the next decade. Once completed, China will be the only country to have its own space station, as Russia’s International Space Station (ISS) is a collaborative project among several countries.

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The launches will include two crewed missions aboard Shenzhou, two Tianzhou cargo ships, and two additional orbital lab modules, according to the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, on Thursday (01/06), citing a recent announcement from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, known as CASC.

The two scientific modules, nicknamed Mengtian and Wentian, will join the Tianhe core module, which currently hosts a crew of three on a six-month mission, the longest in the country’s history.

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The launch schedule shows how the traditionally cautious Chinese program is ramping up its mission cadence in its eagerness to take a leadership role in space exploration.

The United States expects to make roughly the same number of launches this year, having slowed down in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chains of crucial elements, such as computer chips, were disrupted, and liquid oxygen, used as rocket fuel, had to be diverted to hospitals to save patients.

One of the most anticipated, scheduled for March, will be the Space Launch System – a rocket about 1,010 meters (332 feet) tall that will serve for future lunar missions.

The Chinese space program, led by its military, has been banned from the International Space Station, mainly due to objections from the United States.

China Will Not Undertake the Construction of the Base Alone and Announces Russia as a Partner in the Project

China will not undertake the construction of the base alone: “We will work with Russia to build the bases of the lunar exploration station, which will establish a solid foundation for investigating lunar resources and the environment,” said the vice director of CNSA to local media in a recent interview. Building a base at the south pole of the Moon would have the advantage that the solar panels providing power to the station would enjoy more hours of sunlight than elsewhere on the satellite.

After signing a cooperation agreement with Russia last March, the chief designer of the lunar exploration program, Wu Weiren, stated that “if the lunar research station project can be successfully implemented, China will not be far from achieving a manned landing on the Moon.”

Currently, part of the Chang’e 4 mission is on the lunar surface. The Yutu 2 rover, which is currently operational, reached the Moon aboard the uncrewed Chang’e-4 lander in 2019, becoming the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the satellite.

Chinese experts predicted shortly after the launch of Chang’e-4 that there would be “surprising discoveries” on the other side of the Moon, in which “deeply hidden information” could be revealed.

The Chang’e program (named after a goddess who, according to Chinese legends, lives on the Moon) began with the launch of its first probe in 2007. The ultimate goal of this program is a manned mission to the Moon.

China Broadcasts Live New Year’s View from the New Space Station

China welcomed the New Year with a live broadcast from cameras outside the new Tianhe space station module. In a new video from the China National Space Administration, streamed live on New Year’s Day (January 1), you can now see the beauty of Earth below the Tianhe module in China’s Tiangong space station. China Central Television started the broadcast, and you can also watch it above, featuring three hours of live footage from the module.

In the footage, during which Tianhe orbits the Earth twice, the camera feeds rotate through different panoramic cameras that were set up by astronauts during spacewalks.

The various views show the hatch of the Tianhe docking hub for extravehicular activities, the station’s solar panels, and the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft docked, as well as clouds, oceans, and landforms on our planet below.

During the live broadcast, astronauts aboard the space station also made some appearances, even conversing with university students in Beijing from the station, according to China’s state media provider Xinhua.