Since the turn of the century, China has emerged as a major power in space. In the future, the country plans to establish a base on the Moon, send taikonauts to Mars, and become a direct rival to NASA
Host | Matthew S Williams
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/matthew-s-williams
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Episode Notes
Since the turn of the century, China has emerged as a major power in space. In the future, the country plans to establish a base on the Moon, send taikonauts to Mars, and become a direct rival to NASA. Like all space programs, its inception was tied to the Cold War and the development of nuclear weapons. However, it has since evolved to become a major player in space exploration and research.
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Resources
China: A Global Power’s Celestial Ambitions - Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada: https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/china-global-powers-celestial-ambitions
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For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast
China's Space Program | Stories From Space Podcast With Matthew S Williams
Chinese Space Program
[00:00:00] The authors acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the
traditional unceded lands of the Lekwungen peoples. Hello and welcome back
to Stories from Space. I'm your host Matt Williams, and today we will be
starting a new segment where we look at other space programs from around the
world and how they got to where they are today.
And where better to start than with the Chinese space program? In recent years,
they've become not only a rising star in the field of space exploration, but a
major contender that is now directly challenging NASA for its position as the
leader in space, something that they've enjoyed for many decades, going all the
way back to the space race.
And in addition to exploring how they got to where they are today, how they've
experienced some Very impressive growth and achieved several major
milestones, taking several impressive strides. [00:01:00] We're also going to
look at their inception and how this really demonstrates that all major space
agencies today, they have very similar origin stories.
And, of course, we'll be looking at the future. How China plans to send crewed
missions to the moon, create a permanent lunar habitat there, and send crewed
missions to Mars. All of which are directly challenging NASA's plans, the moon
to Mars mission architecture, as well as their plans to create the successor space
station to the ISS, which will no longer be operational after 2030.
And so, to look at the history of China's space program, as I said, you'll notice a
lot of similarities between the Russian or Soviet space program and that of the
United States, as well as others that we'll look at in the course of this series.
Basically, the space program began as a part of the Cold War.
It was tied to the development of nuclear weapons and [00:02:00] rocketry. And
avionics, all of which had emerged in the Second World War, and now, all the
major powers of the world were vying for supremacy in that respect. And China
had a vested interest in the development of rocketry and nuclear weapons,
because, as a revolutionary regime that had taken power only in 1948, they were
concerned about being left behind and being vulnerable.
They certainly wanted a nuclear deterrent of their own, you know. Especially
since in 1953, as a means of bringing the Korean War to an end, the United
States threatened China with a nuclear attack. This was due to all the logisticaland manpower support that they were sending to the North Korean regime, as
well as their ongoing fight with the Republic of China, at this point
headquartered in Taiwan.
And so, like their American and Soviet counterparts, China embarked on a
nuclear program by [00:03:00] 1955 at the behest of Chairman Mao, who
announced the decision during the Central Committee meeting of the
Communist Party of China. And in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the
first artificial satellite into space, Sputnik 1, Mao declared that China needed its
own space program as well.
And the first step in this was the launch of an artificial satellite of their own by
1959 during the 10th anniversary of the Communist Revolution of China. And,
again, like his Soviet and American counterparts, this was out of a desire to not
be left behind or to be kept at a strategic disadvantage, but also to garner
respect, not just from the U.
S. and its NATO allies, but from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and
other nations that were caught up in the Cold War and seeking to demonstrate
whose system of governance and whose economic model worked. And as of
October 8th, 1956, China's [00:04:00] first rocket missile development agency
was established, known as the 5th Research Institute, which was established by
China's Ministry of National Defense.
And this essentially meant that it was now a matter of national defense to
develop a space program, start sending satellites into orbit, and eventually, A
crude space program. So henceforth, all developments in space technology
would mirror the growth in nuclear weapons technology and what followed
between the late 1950s and the turn of the century was a process of gradual
buildup for the Chinese space program.
Which would ultimately set the stage for China becoming an official major
power in space by the 21st century. The first set of milestones they achieved
happened in 1958. First in April, when China broke ground on its first launch
site near Geochuan in Inner Mongolia. And this was known at the time
[00:05:00] as the Geochuan Satellite Launch Center, or Launch Complex B 2.
The site would later expand to become the Dongfeng Aerospace City. And it
was here that China experimented with their Dongfeng 1 launch vehicle, which
was basically a Chinese version of the Soviet R 2 rocket, which itself was a
Soviet version of the German V 2 rocket. These were being brought back from
Germany and reverse engineered and rebuilt in the Soviet Union.And thanks to a technology transfer program between the two communist states
in the 1950s, this allowed the Chinese scientists to have access to Soviet designs
and recreate them. And when you see pictures of the Dongfeng 1 and the R 2
rocket, you can see the similarities not only with each other, but with the
German V 2.
So, they all basically look like the representations we see whenever there's
kitschy sci fi or retro [00:06:00] sci fi, that type of appearance, right? The tail
fins, the profile that looks like a cross between a cigar and a dart. It's difficult to
explain, but you'll know when you see it. Unfortunately, this transfer program
and relations between China and the Soviet Union, they wouldn't last.
After Stalin died in 1953, and Khrushchev officially replaced him as leader of
the Soviet Union by 1958, the two countries began embarking on rather
different paths. Khrushchev was very afraid of sharing nuclear technology with
Chairman Mao. Largely because of very, very inflammatory statements he made
about how China could survive a nuclear war.
And by 1960, this resulted in the Sino Soviet split. At which point China
pursued its nuclear weapons program and space technologies independently. So,
while this was a setback for both of these programs in [00:07:00] China, they
did manage to succeed in developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and
nuclear warheads by the 1960s.
And these would have applications for space exploration in very short order. So,
for example, by February 19th, 1960, China successfully launched their first
sounding rocket, And this was known as the T 7, which was the Chinese version
of the Soviet R 7. And the R 7 would go on to become the workhorse of the
Soviet space program and Russian space program, eventually giving rise to the
Soyuz rocket.
Later that year, they conducted the first successful launch of their Dongfeng 1
launch vehicle, which at this point was being used as a medium range ballistic
missile. And by 1964, they launched its successor, the DF 2. But more
significantly, by July 19th, 1964, China conducted the first launch of living
creatures [00:08:00] from their soil to space using the redesigned T 7 rocket.
And these creatures consisted of eight white mice, were sent to orbit, and later
recovered from the Guangdi rocket launch site. And by 1967, in response to
NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, and the Soviets Soyuz
programs, Mao ordered that all necessary steps should be taken to put an
astronaut into space, or as they referred to in China, taikonauts.So over the next three years, China worked diligently to develop their first
heavy launch vehicles, and this included the two stage Fenbao 1, which was
unveiled in 1969, and the three stage Changzheng 1, or Long March 1, in 1970.
And these rockets allowed for the first satellites to be launched from China,
which took place in 1970 and 71.
The first was a communications satellite, while the second carried [00:09:00] a
magnometer and a cosmic ray x ray detector to space. And by 1971, China
officially adopted their first crewed space program, known as Project 714,
which called for the use of the new Shuguang designed space capsule, which
was inspired largely by the American Gemini capsule, and like the Gemini
capsule, was meant to accommodate two crew members, with a proposed
launch date of 1973.
And, by March of that same year, the first 19 Taikonauts were chosen. So in this
respect, China is hoping to conduct their own version of Mercury and Gemini
into one project, or, in the Russian's case, Vostok and Voskhod. Unfortunately,
the program was cancelled in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, which began
5 years earlier and lasted for another 5 years.
So from 1966 to 1976, and the chaos and turmoil that resulted from this
[00:10:00] cultural revolution caused severe disruption to multiple Chinese
industries. And with the death of Mao in 1976, several projects were cancelled
and progress towards a crude mission slowed considerably. Nevertheless, a few
key accomplishments were still made.
November 26, 1975, China successfully launched their first recoverable
satellite, the Fenway Xihuaixin satellite, which was successfully launched and
returned to Earth after three days. And as with other recoverable satellites in this
series, the purpose of this mission was to test systems designed for crewed
missions.
And 1979 also saw the deployment of China's first tracking ship, known as
Wanwang, or Longview. And as with their Soviet NASA counterparts, the
purpose of these ships is to track the telemetry of various medium and long
range missiles, satellites, and spacecraft, and determine their [00:11:00] landing
points, so where the crews can be recovered, and their space capsule, if
necessary, retrieved.
During the 1980s, China made further progress with full range ICBMs, which
also had the, which also led to the development of the Long March 2 and 3
rockets. And this further allowed China to adopt a commercial launch programby 1985, and the ability to launch satellites for various countries and interests,
primarily European and Asian ones.
And by 1986, and by 1986, with the Cultural Revolution now 10 years in the
rearview mirror, China's Communist Party once again decided to set some
ambitious long term goals, and this included the development of a crewed
spacecraft and space station. Which, of course, were inspired largely by the
Soviet Salyut program and NASA's Skylab.
Furthermore, China also wanted to develop a space [00:12:00] plane similar to
the Space Shuttle and the Buran Shuttle. And this was known as Project 836
204, which they hoped would lead to a space plane that could ferry astronaut
crews to a Chinese space station. However, after exploring concepts similar to
what NASA and the Soviet space program had created, the program leaders
opted instead for a simpler space capsule design.
And while these plans didn't materialize in the time frame originally hoped for,
it did lay the groundwork for what would be China's first crewed missions to
space, which would have to wait until shortly after the turn of the century. And
speaking of said groundwork, It was also during this period that China
developed its current space monitoring and control network, which consisted of
the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, the Xi'an Satellite Measurement
and Control Center, and four Wan Wang class space survey ships, as well as
multiple land based monitoring and [00:13:00] control stations.
In 1989 and 1991, two major events would take place that would forever alter
the future of China, It's political system and its space program, and these were
the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, followed shortly thereafter the
collapse of the Soviet Union. In response to these events, China began enacting
reforms to ensure the long term survival of the Chinese Communist Party and
the system that they had built up in the wake of Chairman Mao's death.
In terms of their space program, one very notable change was the nomenclature.
Whereas in the past, Chinese space program used names that reflected
revolutionary history, they turned to using mystical religious names from
Chinese mythology and ancient history. There were, however, exceptions, such
as the Long March family of rockets, which were already in use at the time.
And would continue to be named [00:14:00] Changzhen. Also, in 1993, China's
space program was reformed with the creation of the China National Space
Administration and the China Science and Industry Aerospace Corporation.Whereas the former was responsible for planning and developing space
activities, the latter was now in charge of developing space related technologies.
In 1999, the China National Space Administration, or CNSA, conducted the
first launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft. This was a modified version of the
Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which represented a new era of support and repair
relations between the countries. Much like the Soyuz spacecraft, the Shenzhou
was designed to support China's crewed space missions, and in 2003, they made
their first attempt.
This was the Shenzhou 5 mission. Which launched a single Taikonaut,
Commander Yang Liwei, to orbit on October 13th, 2003, for [00:15:00] 21
hours. This mission was essentially China's Mercury Program and Vostok
Program combined, and it managed to achieve similar results. At 21 hours spent
in space, Commander Yang's flight was comparable to the Vostok 2 flight with
cosmonaut German Titov, and the Mercury Program's Faith 7 launch, which
was piloted by Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.
Also in 2003, the CNSA inaugurated the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program,
or Chang'e. Named after the Chinese moon goddess, this program envisioned
robotic missions to the moon as precursors for an eventual crewed mission.
Integral to the realization of this program were the heavy launch vehicles, the
Long March 3B and 3C.
Between the two of them, these rockets sent the first three missions of the
Chang'e program to the moon. This included the Chang'e [00:16:00] 1 mission,
which launched in 2007, and consisted of a lunar orbiter that gathered data on
its surface in order to scout landing sites for future missions. This was followed
by the Chang'e 2 mission in 2010, which also gathered data on the surface of the
moon.
And then flew to the Earth Sun L2 Lagrange point, where it tested China's
Telemetry, Tracking, and Command, or TTC, network. This completed Phase 1
of the Chang'e program, and led to Phase 2, where China would begin sending
both a lander and a rover to explore the surface. The first of which was the
Chang'e 3 lander, which deployed Yutu, or Jade Rabbit in Chinese.
which explored the northern region of Mare Imbrium, where it gathered
topographical data and conducted a geological survey. The Chania 3 mission
was also distinguished for accomplishing the first soft landing on the moon
since 1976. U 2 was [00:17:00] also the first rover to operate on the lunar
surface since the Soviet Lunokhod 2 ceased operations in 1973.And in 2018, the Chang'e 4 lander was sent to the far side of the moon, where it
would deploy the U 2 2 rover to explore the South Pole Aitken Basin. The
purpose of this mission was to scout possible landing sites for future crewed
missions, and assess the local resources and terrain for the construction of a
future lunar base.
The lander also carried the Lunar Micro Ecosystems Experiment. This consisted
of metal cylinders filled with seeds and insect eggs designed to test how lunar
gravity would affect living creatures. The experiment met with some early
success when some of the cotton seeds sprouted inside the cylinder.
Unfortunately, the rover was caught in lunar night, and without an adequate
heating system, the plants froze. The orbiter element of this mission also tested
the ability to relay [00:18:00] communications from the far side of the moon.
Which are essential to future operations, since direct communications are
impossible with this side of the moon.
This concluded phase two of the program, which would be followed by sample
return missions, consisting of the Chang'e 5 T1. This mission was launched on
October 23rd, 2014, and was designed to test a lunar return spacecraft, and its
ability to return samples to Earth. This paved the way for the Chania 5 sample
return mission, which launched on November 23rd, 2020.
The mission reached the lunar surface on December 1st, and returned to Earth
with 1, 731 grams, or 61. 1 ounces, of lunar regolith for study. This effectively
gave way to Phase 4, which consisted of the Chang'e 6 mission, launching on
May 3rd, 2024, to study the topography, composition, and subsurface
[00:19:00] structure of the South Pole Aitken Basin.
Like its predecessor, Chang'e 6 also returned samples to Earth, and carried a
Chinese rover named Jinchan, or Chinese for Golden Toad. This mini rover
conducted infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface and imaged the Chang'e 6
lander on the lunar surface. The two remaining missions, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e
8, are scheduled to launch in 2026 and 2028.
Chang'e 7 will consist of an orbiter, a lander, and a mini flying probe that will
explore the St. Pelican Basin for potential resources. Meanwhile, Chang'e 8 will
verify in situ resource development and utilization technologies. It will include
a lander, a rover, and a flying detector, as well as a 3D printing experiment.
The purpose of this last experiment is to test in situ resource utilization, where
local resources such as water [00:20:00] ice and lunar regolith Will be used totest build a structure. Like Chang'e 4, it will also transport a small sealed
ecosystem experiment. This will test out key technologies necessary for the
construction of a lunar science base.
Which will be tasked with growing plants for the astronauts and crew. Between
2011 and today, China has also achieved a major milestone in space in the form
of its Tiangong program. Tiangong, meaning celestial palace in Chinese, refers
to the series of space stations that were designed to test the technology and
components for construction of a large modular space station.
In 2011, the Tiangong 1 station was launched, where it supported crewed
missions until it was decommissioned in 2018. In 2016, the station's successor,
Tiangong 2, was launched into orbit. Building on the successes of the first, this
[00:21:00] station was designed to test systems and processes for mid term
space stays and refueling.
As such, it accommodated multiple crews over longer periods of time. In July
2019, Tiangong 2, was also decommissioned, was deorbited and burned up in
Earth's atmosphere. The knowledge and experience obtained from these two
previous stations went into the creation of the Tiangong 3, or Tiangong Modular
Station, construction of which began in 2021.
This consisted of the launch of the Tianhe, or Cabin Module. Tianhe literally
translates to Harmony of the Heavens. In July of 2022, it was joined by the
Wentian, or Quest for the Heavens, Laboratory Cabin Module. Third and final
launch consisted of the Mengtian, or Dreaming of the Heavens, Laboratory
Cabin Module, which launched in October of 2022.
The station has [00:22:00] since hosted many rotating astronaut crews, and there
are plans for expansion. Beyond the success of these two programs, China has
also achieved multiple strides in terms of rocket development. In 2016, the
Long March 5 rocket launched for the first time. This two stage heavy launch
vehicle was vital to the construction of the Tiangong space station, and for the
future of China's Moon space program.
In 2017, Chinese officials also announced their plan for the development of a
reusable space plane, similar to the US Air Force's X 37 B. And on September
4th, 2020, the resulting space plane, which is still shrouded in secrecy, launched
on a long March two F Rocket and return to earth after spending just two days
in orbit.On August 4th, 2022, the reusable space plane was launched for a second time.
While in orbit, it deployed at least one object [00:23:00] that may have been a
small satellite or monitoring craft and returned to Earth on May 8th, 2023, after
spending 276 days in orbit. The third and final mission took off on December
14th, 2023, which released at least seven objects into orbit and returned to Earth
on September 6th, 2024, after spending 266 days and 10 hours in orbit.
And in April of 2020, China announced that the first independent mission sent
by their country to Mars would be named Tianwen 1, or Quest for Heavenly
Truth. By July of that same year, Tianwen 1 launched, consisting of an orbiter, a
lander, and a rover element. The lander and rover elements landed on the
surface of Mars on May of 2021, making China the third nation to make a soft
landing on Mars, after the U.
S. and the Soviet space program. The deployment of the Zhurong rover also
made China the second [00:24:00] nation after the U. S. to ever deploy a rover
on the Martian surface. Looking to the future, the Chinese space program has
some very bold ideas. These include creating a permanent base around the lunar
south pole, sending crewed missions to Mars that will culminate in the creation
of another permanent base there, and creating a successor station to the ISS in
low Earth orbit, along with several robotic missions that will push the frontiers
of science and our exploration of the outer solar system, near Earth objects, and
comets.
NASA On March 9th, 2021, China and Russia formally signed a Memorandum
of Understanding that established a cooperative agreement between their two
countries and their respective space programs to build an International Lunar
Research Station, or ILRS. The plans, which were subsequently released,
indicated that construction on the space would begin after the Chang'e
[00:25:00] 8 mission and would be completed by 2035.
Bye! This station is meant to rival NASA's own plans for an Artemis base
camp, which would include the Lunar Gateway as well as several surface
elements. Similar to the Artemis Accords, China and Russia have also indicated
that they are seeking international partnerships in order to realize this base.
And for other space agencies to realize the benefits of its research and
exploration potential. To date, 13 countries have signed on to the program,
including China and Russia, as well as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua,
Serbia, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and Senegal.
That same year, the Chinese government announced that it planned to send
crewed missions to Mars along the same timetable that NASA had originallyproposed, beginning in 2033, with follow up [00:26:00] missions every 26
months, ultimately leading to the creation of a Martian surface habitat.
In order to make both these plans happen, China has been developing the Long
March 9 and 10, both of which are three stage, super heavy launch vehicles.
Similar to the Saturn five of the Apollo program. And while some progress has
been made with both launch vehicles, it is doubtful that the long March nine,
which is clearly intended for sending missions on a trans Martian injection will
be ready in time by 2033.
And in low Earth orbit, China intends to use the lessons learned from the
Tiangong program to create a successor space station that will replace the ISS
once it's retired in 2030. From all these plans, it is clear that China intends to
cement its reputation as a major space power and as a rival for NASA.
Whether or [00:27:00] not they will succeed in this endeavor remains to be
seen. Nevertheless, one thing is clear. From its relatively humble beginnings in
the Cold War era, to the major reforms instituted near the turn of the century,
and its many impressive accomplishments since, the Chinese space program has
established itself as one of the top five space agencies in the world.
With the decline of Roscosmos, which began in the wake of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine in 2022, China is poised to become the number two powered in space
between NASA and the European Space Agency. India's space program has
been making many impressive strides in recent years and may find itself
challenging China for the number two spot in the not too distant future.
Regardless, if and when permanent bases are established on the Moon and
Mars, it is likely that each of them will be flying many different flags.
[00:28:00] The days where space was largely dominated by two major powers
has won its course. If there is to be a brave new future for humanity in space, it
will be characterized more and more by accessibility, representation, and
international cooperation.
Even though China and its partners are in direct competition with NASA and its
partners, one thing all sides agree on is the spirit of the Outer Space Treaty.
That space is for all, and for the benefit of all humanity. Tune in next time
where we will be taking a look at India's rising space program. The legacy and
contribution of Islamic, Persian, and Indian astronomers.And where we'll take a look at the past, present, and future of space stations. In
the meantime, thank you for listening. I'm Matt Williams, and this has been
Stories from Space.