(DR) Xinhua
Chinese space station Tiangong-1
China could surpass the US in the space race within a decade – or less alert a new report.
A new report from the Commercial Space Federation warns that China could overcome the United States and become the world’s main spatial power five to ten yearsif the current growth pace remains.
The Redshift document, on September 16, outlines a difficult portrait for the US, whose space programs have been locked by Trump’s historical budget courts that limit NASA’s high level.
Recently, in the Senate, several experts, including the former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, recognized that it is “highly unlikely” for the US to be able to meet the scheduled calendar to return to the moon before China, unless cuts to the agency budget are reversed.
While Artemis missions continue to face delays – partly due to problems with the Spacex rocket Starship – Beijing has reached successive milestones in his plan to put astronauts on the moon by 2030, lists a.
The construction of the space station Tiangongthe development of satellite megaconstelsone own space telescope and one orbital solar energy center These are some of the Chinese trumps. China also plans to build a Operational lunar base with an autonomous nuclear reactor Until 2035, which may guarantee to superpower access to valuable resources and advantage in the future race to Mars.
A Tiangongit will be a decisive factor, which should become the only state space station in orbit when the international space station is deactivated at the end of the decade. You USA have no plans to replace ISS Directly, relying on commercial projects still in the development phase. At the same time, China already has six operational cosmodomes, capable of significantly increasing the number of annual releases.
According to the authors of Redshift, China is living simultaneously its ages Apollo, ISS and commercial space, while the US faces financial and organizational barriers. In 2023 alone, the country invested $ 2.86 billion in the commercial space sector – more than 17 times the amount applied in 2016. Beijing has still bet on international cooperation, through the call “Space silk route”, which has already resulted in more than 80 joint projects with countries such as Russia, India and Japan, reducing US influence.
