China is not only trying to overtake the U.S. here on Earth, but also in the heavens. The Chinese are raising their ambitions in space, with last year's opening of their own space station to compete with the International Space Station, and now with plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. This after the U.S. already announced plans to return its astronauts to the moon by 2025, with both nations aiming to eventually establish a permanent base on the lunar surface.
While America remains well ahead of China in the overall space race (in 2021, the U.S. space budget was estimated at $60 billion compared to China's $17 billion), critics warn this advancement by the Chinese should not be ignored. "For China, this speaks to national prestige, which translates into national influence around the world," says Edward Turzanski, national security analyst with the Foreign Policy Research Institute. "The Chinese are letting the world know that Russia, and more so the United States, are no longer the preeminent space powers."
That is where the Chinese space station comes in. The Tiangong space station launched last year after China was excluded from the ISS. The Chinese have begun inviting other nations to join their space station, at the same time the future of the ISS is in question. Russia has already announced plans to leave the ISS to build its own space station, and NASA's current contract with the ISS only runs through 2030. "This (and the Chinese moon program) is all a sign that they are on the ascendancy in space, and they'll use this as a means of attracting and influencing other nations," says Turzanski.
Ultimately, this new space race is yet another power play by China, both on the international stage and the interstellar stage. "This plays to (China's) advantage when they're trying to get people to bend to their will," he continues. "So for practical military reasons, and also for practical political reasons, this is disconcerting."
Photo: AFP