China’s space plan highlights commitment to space exploration, analysts say

Chinese authorities recently released a 25-year space exploration plan that details five major scientific themes and 17 priority areas of scientific breakthroughs with a single goal: to make China a world leader in space by 2050 and a America’s key competitor in space for decades. future.

Last week, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China National Space Administration and the China Human Space Mission Agency jointly released a space exploration plan for 2024 to 2050.

This includes searching for extraterrestrial life, exploring Mars, Venus and Jupiter, sending space crews to the Moon and building an international lunar research station by 2025.

Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the plan highlights China’s long-term commitment and also answers some lingering questions.

“I think many experts question whether China will continue to invest in space, particularly in science and exploration, given the many economic uncertainties in China… but this is a sign of their commitment ” said Swope.

The plan reinforces a “commitment to really looking at space science and exploration in the long term and not just the short term,” he added.

The plan outlines Beijing’s goal to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030, obtain and recover the first samples from Mars, and carry out a mission to the Jupiter system over the next few years. It also describes three phases of development, each with specific goals in terms of space exploration and key scientific discoveries.

The sweeping plan is not only a declaration that Beijing can compete with the United States in high-tech industries, it is also a way to boost national pride, analysts say.

“There’s a lot of public awareness and pride about space in particular,” says Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior intelligence officer and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. “This encourages the Chinese people, gives them a strong sense of nationalism and superiority, and this is the main goal of the Beijing government.”

Swope agrees.

“I think it (China’s long-term space plan) is a manifestation of China’s interest and desire, from the point of view of national prestige and honor, to really show that it is an actor on the international scene just like the United States,” he said.

Antonia Hmaidi, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute of China Studies, told VOA in an email response that “China’s spatial orientation dates back to the 1960s” and that “China has also been very successful in achieve its own objectives and deadlines. »

In recent years, China has led several successful space science missions including Chang’e-4, which marked the first soft landing and movement on the far side of the Moon, Change’e-5, a mission which returned a sample of the Moon to Beijing for the first time, and Tianwen-1, a space mission that allowed Chinese spacecraft to leave footprints on Mars.

In addition to these space missions, Beijing has implemented several programs aimed at increasing scientific discoveries related to space, in particular through the launch of several space satellites.

Since 2011, China has developed and launched scientific satellites, including Dark Matter Particle Explorer, Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, and the Einstein Probe.

Although China continues to advance in space exploration and scientific discovery, according to Swope, it still has a way to go before catching up with the United States.

“China is today undeniably the second largest space power in the world, behind the United States,” he said. “The United States remains by far the most important country in many areas, including science and exploration. »

Eftimiades said one of the main reasons the United States has maintained its lead in the space race is the success of Washington’s private and commercial aerospace companies.

“American private industry has gained an advantage over China,” Eftimiades said. “There is no sort of industrial control, industrial plan. In fact, Congress and the administration are failing to do so altogether.”

Unlike the United States, China’s large space entities are often state-owned, such as the China Aerospace Cooperation, Eftimiades said.

He adds that one benefit of China’s state-owned space entities is the Chinese government’s ability to “steer its industries toward specific goals.” At the same time, bureaucratic involvement in state-owned enterprises leads to less “cutting edge technology.”

This year, China has focused on increasing its space presence relative to the United States by conducting more orbital launches.

Beijing plans to carry out 100 orbital launches this yearaccording to the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which was expected to carry out 70. However, as of October 15, China had carried out 48 orbital launches.

Last week, SpaceX announced that it had launched its 100th rocket of the year and had another liftoff a few hours later. The private company is targeting 148 launches this year.

Earlier this year, the US Department of Defense implemented its first Commercial space integration strategywhich describes the Department’s efforts to take privately produced technologies and apply their uses for U.S. national security purposes.

In a statement released regarding the US strategic plan, the Department of Defense explained its strategy of working closely with private and commercial space companies known for their innovation and scalable production.

According to the release, officials say “the strategy is built on the premise that the commercial space sector’s innovative capabilities, scalable production, and rapid technology refresh rates provide pathways to improve capability resilience.” DOD space capabilities and strengthen deterrence.

Many space technologies have military applications, Swope said.

“A lot of things that are done in space are dual-use, so (space technologies) can be used primarily for scientific purposes, but could also be used to design, build and test certain types of weapons technologies” , said Swope.

Hmaidi says China’s new space project stands out for what it doesn’t have.

“The most interesting and striking part of China’s new space project for me was the narrow focus on basic science rather than military objectives,” she told VOA in an email. “However, we know from open source research that China is also very active in military space development.”

“This plan contains only part of China’s space planning, namely the part that is unlikely to have direct military utility, without mentioning other missions with direct military utility such as its orbiting Internet program low-lying land,” Hmaidi explained.