Beijing, China: With more than 40 launches planned for 2022, China believes it is on par with the United States when it comes to launching spacecraft into orbit.
The official Xinhua News Agency stated Thursday that two Shenzhou crewed missions, two Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, and the station’s extra two modules will be launched, citing a recent statement by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). Tianhe’s three-person crew will soon be joined by two new scientific modules named Mengtian and Wentian.
With an eye on becoming a major player in space exploration, China’s normally cautious space programme is ramping up its launch capability.
After the COVID-19 epidemic impeded the rate of space launches in 2021, the United States expects to see the same number of launches this year as well. Liquid oxygen needed for the rocket fuel had to be moved to hospitals to rescue lives and supply systems for critical objects such as computer chips were interrupted.
Most eagerly awaited is the launch of the Space Launch System in March, a 332-foot long, 1,010-meter-tall rocket that NASA plans to use for future lunar expeditions. US opposition was the primary reason China’s military space programme was not allowed to participate in the International Space Station.
China has advanced its Tiangong space station programme primarily on its own, constructing and then abandoning two experimental stations before beginning the most recent iteration.
The crew of Tianhe is currently on its longest six-month mission, Shenzhou-13, ever since 2003, when China became the third country in the world to send a human into space.
As a part of their mission, the crew also undertook two spacewalks. The crew also tested the station’s robotic service arm, which successfully undocked and re-attached the Tianzhou-2 cargo ship on Thursday.
There are three astronauts who make up the second crew of a permanent space station that will be around 66 tonnes when completed, a fourth of the weight of the International Space Station.
Additionally, China’s lunar research programme garnered public attention when its Yutu 2 rover brought back images that appeared to show the presence of what some believed to be a mysterious house, but which turned out to be merely a rock.
The rover is the first to land on the moon’s far side, which has been mostly unexplored. A Chinese rover is also seeking signs of life on Mars. With the help of the Chang’e 5 mission, lunar materials to Earth were brought for the first time since the 1970s in December 2000.
Controversy has also surrounded the initiative. As recently as last October, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a report, stating it was not aware of the country’s testing of a hypersonic missile two months before, but rather that the country was only trying to see how well a new spacecraft could be reused.
According to reports, China is also working on a top-secret spacecraft.
