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Kristin Huang

Rivalry between China and the United States in space exploration has reached new heights, with a US general saying China was a threat that could block American access to space.
Just days after the launch of Beijing’s first lunar mission to bring samples back to Earth, US Space Force General John Raymond said the United States had to strengthen ties with its allies to handle the “threat” from China and Russia over space.
Raymond’s comments came as the head of the Chinese space administration said the nation would launch more lunar probes and invite other countries to join China on its missions.
The China-US space rivalry intensified after a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft blasted off from Wenchang, Hainan province, on Tuesday morning.


In the first mission of its kind by any country in more than 40 years, the 8-tonne spacecraft comprises four components designed to bring samples back to Earth.
If the mission is successful, it would make China just the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, after the US and the former Soviet Union. But China’s space ambitions do not stop there.
How China’s Chang’e 5 could take giant leap for world’s space missions
Xu Hongliang, secretary general of China’s National Space Administration, told a space aviation forum on Wednesday that there were more Chang’e missions to come and China was planning to build an international research station on the moon.
“We have carried out extensive international cooperation in lunar and Mars exploration missions, and we welcome international space agencies to participate in China’s future lunar and deep-space exploration cooperation,” Xu said on the sidelines of the three-day Wenchang International Aerospace Forum in Haikou, China News Service reported.
Xu also said China would explore small celestial bodies, retrieve samples from Mars and pass by Jupiter and back again.
Space rivalry between the world’s largest two economies is heating up. Beijing has been planning to build its own space station for decades as an alternative to the International Space Station, from which China has been excluded by the US because of security concerns.


Even though observers said the United States remained far ahead in its aerospace programmes, activities and technologies, US officials said China and Russia showed threatening behaviour regarding space.
Raymond referred to an incident in 2007 when China hit and destroyed a disused Chinese weather satellite, testing its own missile capabilities. He said space had been a “benign domain” in 1991, but it was now a contested domain.
“China and Russia caused this shift in the strategic environment. The two countries seek to stop US access to space, and they are developing capabilities that would negate the US advantage,” he said in an interview published on the US defence department website.
He said China and Russia’s capabilities included reversible jamming of GPS and communication satellites. The two nations were also working on directed energy and kinetic destruction of US assets via missiles on the ground, Raymond said.
Nasa chief warns US Congress about Chinese space station
Raymond said the US was eager to enhance ties with its allies on the ultimate high ground in space, as “space really underpins … all of our instruments of national power … it provides huge economic opportunity, scientific opportunity and military opportunity”.
“We have to train our operators differently, we have to have different space architectures and we have to have partnerships,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that we stay ahead of this growing threat.
“It offers us an opportunity to develop global partnerships that allow us to take a global perspective,” he said. “I saw the value of that partnership, front and centre.”


In the first nine months of the year, China sent 29 satellites into space – two more than the US – according to a report by Virginia-based consulting firm Bryce Space and Technology.
But observers said China still lagged behind the US, where private companies such as SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had taken the industry lead.
China has grappled with launch failures. An optical remote-sensing satellite, Jilin-1 Gaofen 02C, failed to enter its preset orbit in September, following another failed launch two months earlier, the Kuaizhou-11 commercial solid rocket, which had two satellites on board. China also had satellite launch failures in March and April.


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Space

US general describes ‘China threat’ in space as Chang’e-5 lunar mission heats up rivalry

The Long March-5 rocket, carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar probe, at Wenchang Space Launch Centre on Tuesday. US Space Force General John Raymond said China and Russia’s capabilities included reversible jamming of GPS and communication satellites. Photo: Reuters

How China’s Chang’e 5 could take giant leap for world’s space missions

A rocket carrying the Chang’e 5 spacecraft blasts off from southern China’s Hainan province on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

(201124) -- WENCHANG, Nov. 24, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Technicians celebrate the successful launch of the Chang'e-5 spacecraft at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 24, 2020. China on Tuesday launched a spacecraft to collect and return samples from the moon, the country's first attempt to retrieve samples from an extraterrestrial body. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

PolyU develops space instruments for the Nationâs first lunar sample return mission. Photo: Hong Kong Polytechnic University; with illustration from Xinhua showing how the samplers are attached to the lunar probe's robotic arm.

China, US space rivalry may heat up after Nasa’s Artemis Accords signed, analysts say

Nations or private companies will be allowed to extract lunar resources and create temporary “safety zones” on the moon to “avoid harmful interference” under the Artemis Accords signed on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

An old NASA logo hangs on a wall at the Heroes & Legends exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Marjie Lambert/Miami Herald/TNS)

China readies to send space probe on Tianwen-1 mission to Mars

China’s first probe to Mars will be launched in the same time window as the United States’ mission this summer, according to the state media. Photo: WEIBIO

A lander is lifted during a test of hovering, obstacle avoidance and deceleration capabilities at a facility in Huailai in China's Hebei province, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. China has invited international observers to the test of its Mars lander as it pushes for inclusion in more global space projects. Thursday's test was conducted at a site outside Beijing simulating conditions on the Red Planet, where the pull of gravity is about one-third that of Earth.(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A lander is put through its hovering-and-obstacle avoidance paces in a test for China’s Mars mission at a test facility in Huailai, Hebei province, late last year. Photo: Reuters

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US Space Force General John Raymond says America must strengthen ties with allies because space is now a ‘contested domain’
Chinese space leader says Beijing’s ambitions extend far beyond the moon and more exploration and retrieval missions are planned



US Space Force General John Raymond says America must strengthen ties with allies because space is now a ‘contested domain’.


US general describes ‘China threat’ in space as Chang’e-5 lunar mission heats up rivalry

US Space Force General John Raymond says America must strengthen ties with allies because space is now a ‘contested domain’ Chinese space leader says Beijing’s ambitions extend far beyond the moon and more exploration and retrieval missions are planned

US Space Force General John Raymond says America must strengthen ties with allies because space is now a ‘contested domain’

Chinese space leader says Beijing’s ambitions extend far beyond the moon and more exploration and retrieval missions are planned