Beijing, 29 May, 2023 (GNP): China’s space program plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, which would mark another milestone in what is being viewed as a new space competition.
The Chinese Manned Space Agency’s deputy director, Lin Xiqiang, confirmed their objective on Monday briefing. However, he did not provide a particular date.
Lin added that China intends to build a new module for its orbiting crewed space station.
“We have a complete near-Earth human space station and human round-trip transportation system,” complemented by a process for selecting, training and supporting new astronauts, he said. A schedule of two crewed missions a year is “sufficient for carrying out our objectives,” Lin added.
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Additionally, he also reported that a brand-new three-person crew is scheduled to depart for the Tiangong space station that was completed in November.
For the first time, a civilian is part of the new team, while prior crew members were all members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In addition to mission commander Jing Haipeng and spacecraft engineer Zhu Yangzhu, the payload specialist will be Gui Haichao, a professor at Beijing’s premier aerospace research center.
China became the third countryafter the former Soviet Union and the United States to send a human into space in 2003 with its first manned space mission.
Chinese space programs’ close connections to the PLA raised concerns from the US, which led to China’s debarment from the International Space Station and the construction of its own station.
China and the United States, the two major countries competing for financial and military might, are also now increasingly perceived as entering a new arena of space competition.
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By the end of 2025, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to send astronauts to the moon, who will travel to the South Pole, where continuously shadowed meteorites are rumored to be covered with icy water.
Both the countries are considering the idea of building permanent crewed outposts on the moon, which raises concerns regarding rights and interests on the lunar surface.
Along with their lunar programs, the US and China both have successfully landed rovers on Mars, and Beijing aims to do the same thing as the US when it comes to asteroid landings.
