China emerging as ‘space science power’ after latest launch

China has launched a new crew to its orbiting space station and has set a target of putting an astronaut on the Moon by 2030.

Three astronauts were on board the Shenzhou-19 spaceship when it took off atop a Long March-2F rocket before dawn on Wednesday from the Gobi desert.

This mission has laid down a marker of China’s intentions to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the Moon and beyond.

NASA has said it is now in a space race with China, but experts believe China may already be leading in some fields of space exploration.

Why does China have its own space station? 

China built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station in 2011.

That was after US authorities imposed limits on how much NASA could cooperate with its Chinese counterpart.

The Tiangong Space Station was launched in 2022. Since then China has sent four crewed missions to the outpost.

Richard de Grijs, a professor of astrophysics at Macquarie University and executive director at the International Space Science Institute, says China is leading in many areas of space exploration.

“Actively avoiding engagement with China during the ongoing space developments is perhaps not a wise decision currently, and those countries [that are doing so] may be shooting themselves in the foot,” he said.

What is the purpose of this mission?

Lin Xigiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), says the current mission, which includes Wang Haoze, China’s first ever female astronaut, will carry out more 80 experiments to explore “new technologies”.

One of those experiments will look into ways to build a base on the Moon.

On board the spacecraft are materials called “moon bricks”, which Chinese scientists believe could be the secret to building on the dark side of the Moon.

Scientist simulated lunar soil to make the “moon bricks” and it is hoped the bricks will be able to withstand the Moon’s harsh environment.

Is China emerging as potential space power?

The fast development of China’s manned and unmanned space program has alarmed other space powers, including the US.

Currently there are only three countries with independent manned space programs: China, Russia and the US.

Russia is currently listed as a partner with China’s manned space program.

China has claimed that some Western countries have been trying to steal secrets from its space program.

“In recent years, some Western countries have formed space combat forces, exercised space action capabilities and even regarded (China) as a major competitor in the space field,” the ministry said.

This is something that NASA has hit back on, with administrator Bill Nelson saying China may be hiding the true intentions of its space program.

“China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,” he said speaking in April.

But as Professor de Grijs sees it, this isn’t anything like a race for China.

“China’s space program is a chance for the CMSA to demonstrate their technologies and the steps forward that they have taken in space travel,” he said.

“They operate in five-year plans and they stick to those plans very carefully, it isn’t a race for China, they aren’t phased by other countries.”

What happens next?

China’s focus has now turned to the goal of putting astronauts on the Moon by 2030.

In May this year, China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe landed on the dark side of the Moon and returned to Earth successfully.

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While it was uncrewed, its safe arrival back in China was a big feat. 

The mission made China the first country to retrieve samples from the Moon’s far side.

Now China is already training astronauts for a Moon landing.

The training will include driving lunar rovers and carrying heavy loads on the Moon, according to the CMSA.

China has declared it wants to be a “global space science power” by 2050.

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