China has invested billions in its space program and has already had some successes. The head of the American space agency warns of a new race for space and especially the moon – no longer with Russia, but now with China.
June 5 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China: Three Chinese astronauts from the Shenzhou-14 manned space mission wave for the cameras. They will stay in space for about six months.
(dpa)
The head of the American space agency Nasa, Bill Nelson, has warned about the Chinese space program. “We must be very concerned that China lands on the moon and says: This is ours now and you stay outside,” he told the “Bild” (Saturday) and added: “China’s space program is a military space -Program.” Unlike the American “Artemis” program, the Chinese are not willing to share their research results and use the moon together. “There’s a new race to space – this time with China,” he said, referring to the former rivalry with Russia.
China is working on putting its own astronauts on the moon. The People’s Republic has landed on the surface of the moon several times with research robots and has also successfully returned moon rocks to earth. In the 2030s, according to reports from the Chinese state media, a permanent station is to be built on the earth’s satellite in a further step. The research station could therefore be set up and operated jointly with Russia.
NASA CEO Bill Nelson delivers a speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 29, 2021.
Asked what military purposes China might have in space, Nelson told the newspaper: “Well, what do you think is happening on the Chinese space station? They learn there how to destroy other people’s satellites.” In addition, Nelson also lamented the Chinese technology theft: “China is good. But China is also good because they steal other people’s ideas and technologies.”
50 years since the US moon landing
With the “Artemis” program, the American space agency wants to bring American astronauts – among them for the first time a woman and a non-white person – back to the moon, at the earliest in 2025. A rover should then come along, and there should also be on the moon and in whose orbit outposts arise.
The last time an American astronaut walked on the moon was almost exactly 50 years ago. Between 1969 and 1972, the USA was the only country to bring a total of twelve astronauts to the moon with the “Apollo” missions.
Beijing wants to play in a league with the USA in space. The construction of the first own space station “Tiangong” (sky palace) is therefore being pushed ahead with speed. The People’s Republic has invested billions in its space program and has already had some successes. China was the first country to land a spacecraft and exploration rover on the dark side of the moon.