China declared success as its youngest astronaut went to space

A Chinese spacecraft with a crew of three, including the country’s first female space engineer, has docked after a journey lasting more than six hours.

The crew will use the domestic space station as a base for six months to conduct experiments and conduct spacewalks as Beijing gathers experience and intelligence for the eventual mission send someone to the Moon by 2030.

Beijing declared the Shenzhou 19 launch a “complete success” – one of 100 launches China has planned in a record year for space exploration as it tries to outpace its rivals. Its opponent is the United States.

The BBC was granted rare access to the Jiuquan satellite launch center in Gansu and we were just over a kilometer away when the spacecraft exploded.

Flames shot out from the rocket launcher as it rose into the sky, lighting up the Gobi desert with a deafening roar.

Hundreds of people lined the streets, waving and cheering the astronauts’ names, the Chinese term for astronauts, as they were sent off.

At the Tiangong space station, the Shenzhou 19 crew met up with three other astronauts piloting Shenzhou 18 and will return to Earth on November 4.

Just two years ago, President Xi Jinping declared that “exploring the vast universe, developing the space industry and building China into a space power is our eternal dream.”

But some in Washington see the country’s ambition and rapid growth as a real threat.

Earlier this year, Nasa head Bill Nelson said the US and China were “in effect racing” to return to the Moon, where he feared Beijing wanted to make territorial claims.

He told lawmakers he believes their civilian space program is also a military program.

However, in Dongfeng Space City, a town built to support the launch site, China’s space program is organized.

Each street lamp is decorated with the national flag.

Cartoon-like statues and sculptures of astronauts line the center of children’s parks, and plastic rockets are the centerpieces of most traffic roundabouts.

A giant poster with Xi Jinping on one side and the Shenzhou spacecraft on the other greets you as you drive into the main building.

Hundreds of people gathered in the darkness after midnight to wave flags and brightly colored lights as the Taikonauts took their final steps on Earth before arriving at the launch site.

The brass band sang Ode to the Motherland as children, staying up late, my mother wearing Chinese flag makeup, all shouting the whole song.

This is a moment of national pride.

The pilot of this mission, Cai Xuzhe, is a veteran but he is traveling with a new generation of Chinese-trained astronauts born in 1990 – including China’s first female space engineer China, Wang Haoze.

“Their youthful energy makes me feel younger and even more confident,” he told the media before takeoff.

“Inspired by the dreams that inspire glory and by the glory that inspires new dreams, we assure the party and the people that we will always be faithful to our mission with all our hearts and minds. the mind of dedication. We will strive to achieve new achievements in China’s crewed space program.”

Standing to his left, beaming, was Song Lingdong.

He recalls watching one of China’s first space station missions as a 13-year-old with “excitement and wonder.” He chose to become a pilot in the hope that this was how he could serve his country.

All three convey a deep sense of national pride and state media has emphasized that this will be the “youngest crew member” to date.

The message is clear: this is a new generation of space travel and an investment in the country’s future.

China has selected its next group of astronauts and they will train for potential lunar missions as well as space station crews.

Mr. Song said: “I am determined not to disappoint the trust placed in me. “I will try to make our country’s name shine again in space.”

Recently, China’s name has “shined” a lot when it comes to the country’s space program.

Earlier this year, the country achieved its first historic achievement by retrieving soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon.

In 2021, China safely landed a spacecraft on Mars and launched the Zhurong probe – becoming the second country to do so.

China also has a fleet of satellites in space and has plans for many more.

In August, it launched the first 18 satellites of what it hopes will eventually be a constellation of 14,000 satellites providing broadband Internet coverage from space, which it hopes will one day match on par with SpaceX’s Starlink.

Elon Musk, CEO of Starlink, admitted on his own X platform that China’s space program is much more advanced than people realize.

But others in the US have expressed even greater concern because they fear the technology could be weaponized.

The head of US Space Command, General Stephen Whiting, told a space symposium in April that China and Russia are both investing heavily in space at a “breakneck pace”.

He claimed that since 2018, China has tripled the number of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites it has in orbit, building a “kill network over the Pacific to search for , repair, monitor, and target U.S. and allied military capabilities.”

China’s space exploration is a “common mission of mankind,” said Li Yingliang, director of the general technology department of the China Manned Space Administration, while dismissing Chinese concerns. America is “unnecessary”.

“I don’t think this should be called a competition… China has long supported the notion of peaceful uses of space in its manned space program. In the future, we will further develop international cooperation in various aspects of manned space technology, all of which are based on sharing and cooperation,” he added.

But the new space race is no longer about going to the Moon. It’s about who controls its resources.

The moon contains minerals, including rare earths, metals like iron and titanium – and helium, which is used in everything from superconductors to medical devices.

Estimates of the value of all of this vary widely, from billions to millions upon millions. So it’s easy to understand why some people see the Moon as a place to make money. However, it’s important to note that this will be a very long-term investment – and the technology needed to mine and return these lunar resources is still very far off, BBC science editor Rebecca Morelle writes.

Chinese experts at the launch center have pointed out the benefits of experiments on Beijing’s space station.

“We study bones, muscles, nerve cells and the effects of gravity on them. Through this research, we discovered that osteoporosis on Earth is actually similar to bone loss in space. “If we can discover unique patterns in space, we can develop special drugs to combat bone loss and muscle atrophy,” said Zhang Wei, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. .

“Many of these experimental results can be applied on Earth.”

At times, China is trying to downplay its progress.

In announcing a roadmap for its space ambitions, which includes building a research station on the Moon, returning Venus atmosphere samples to Earth and launching more than 30 space missions by mid-century, Ding Chibiao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the country has not had many achievements “compared to developed countries”.

And even at this launch center, they admitted there were “significant challenges” in trying to get a crew to the Moon.

“The technology is very complex, has a tight schedule and has many challenges,” said Lin Xiqiang, a spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency.

“We will maintain the spirit of ‘two bombs and one star’. We will maintain confidence and commitment to self-improvement, continue to work together and continue to move forward. We will make the Chinese people’s dream of setting foot on the Moon come true in the near future.”

That’s perhaps why President Xi appears to be prioritizing the country’s space program even as the economy slows.

And although they brought with them the international press to witness their progress – there were key limitations.

We were kept in a hotel three hours from the launch site and transported back and forth by bus, a total journey of 12 hours, instead of staying at the site for several hours.

A simple trip to a friendly local restaurant was carefully guarded by a line of security guards.

We also noticed a large sign in town with a stern warning: “Revealing secrets is a crime. It’s an honor to keep the secret. You will be imprisoned if you reveal the secret. You will be happy if you keep it a secret. You will be shot if you sell secrets.”

China is taking no chances with its new technology, as its competition with the United States is no longer just here on Earth.

The world’s two most powerful nations could soon stake territorial claims far beyond the planet.