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China technology
OpinionComment
Quentin Parker
Quentin Parker

Opinion | If China is worried about SpaceX, it should encourage ‘astropreneurs’ of its own

  • The US company has been ferrying crew to the International Space Station and conducted test flights of the most powerful rocket ever built
  • The risk-taking mentalities and deep pockets of the new space oligarchs are now a force to reckon with in space exploration

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People watch as SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, lifts off from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, as seen from South Padre Island in Texas on November 18. Photo: Reuters
Quentin Parker
Commentary is emerging from Chinese space authorities on how the country should or could react to the rise of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. A recent article in the state-owned China Space News highlighted how the American rocket launch company poses a very particular challenge to Beijing’s own ambitions and capabilities in space.
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To be fair, we are not comparing like with like. SpaceX is not the US’ Nasa, Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency or the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which are nation state or collaborative nation state endeavours. SpaceX is a commercial enterprise that has far more freedom to act.

Based in the US, it the brainchild of South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk who has given us Tesla cars and more recently acquired Twitter, where his arguable missteps and rebranding of the company as X have worried many.

Nevertheless, since its founding in 2002, SpaceX has achieved remarkable progress over a short time. Its Dragon module, which can ferry seven passengers to the International Space Station, has already had 43 launches and made 38 visits to the station. This includes 20 reflights as the capsule itself is reusable, which considerably lowers costs.

Its latest version, Dragon 2, had its first crewed launch in May 2020. I was impressed by how it overturned expectations of what astronauts should look like. In contrast to the bulky spacesuits used in the Apollo or Space Shuttle missions, or even those of the Chinese astronauts, the crew aboard Dragon look like they are about to jump into a Formula One racing car in their sleek, white, minimalist outfits, black boots and head-hugging helmets.

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Then there is the reusable Falcon 9, the first orbital class reusable rocket, and the Falcon Heavy rocket, which generates thrust equivalent to that of 18 jumbo jets from engines. Falcon Heavy can lift about 64 tonnes into orbit.

Finally, there is Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, which has had two test flights already, both of which had unscheduled in-flight “disassembly”– that is, they blew up. However, there is much to be learned from these failures and half-successes. This is something billionaire owners of private companies can do – take more risks and push the envelope harder, unlike state actors who are naturally far more risk averse.
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