New Space Superpower? China Eyes Moon
China state news agency Xinhua has said that “China aims to build a scientific research station in the south polar region of the moon and realize manned lunar exploration mission in about ten years, said a senior space official on Wednesday.”
The China National Space Administration (CSNA) intends to build the research station in the region of the moon’s south pole, Zhang Kejian, head of CSNA, said in a public statement, Xinhua reported.
He also added that Beijing plans to launch a Mars probe by 2020 and confirmed that a fourth lunar probe, the Chang’e-5, will be launched by the end of the year.
The main reason for China’s aggressive nature can be traced back to the 2011 United States Wolf Amendment. The Wolf Amendment effectively barred NASA from collaborating with China. China at that time was catching, but still, technology ill-equipped to land spacecraft on the far side of the moon.
Now its 2019. China has come along way since then, and they are doing things like this:
We should all be questioning China’s motives. Why would they be trying to become a space superpower? Why would they try to be building moonbases? What are their motivations? Do they have malign intentions or benevolent/scientific ones?
These are important to think about, in a world where China is rising all around us.
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