China Launches New Crew for Space Station, Aims for Moon Landing by 2030

On Tuesday, China sent a new team of three individuals to their orbiting space station to send astronauts to the moon by the decade's end.

The crew, which includes China's first non-military astronaut, will briefly share the Tiangong station with the current team of three before they return to Earth after their six-month mission.

The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft launched from the Jiuquan launch center near the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. It was carried by a Long March 2-F rocket.

The space program officials announced their plans to expand the station by adding another module and to launch a crewed mission to the moon before 2030, according to APNews.

China Makes Progress in Space

China constructed its space station because it could not participate in the International Space Station.

This was primarily due to the United States being worried about China's close relationship between their space program and the People's Liberation Army, which is part of the ruling Communist Party.

In 2003, China's first manned space mission made them the third country, after the former Soviet Union and the U.S., to put a person into space using its resources.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Shujianyang) Rendering of Tiangong Space Station in late July 2022, along with June 2022 with Tianhe core module in the middle, Wentian lab module on the left, Tianzhou cargo spacecraft on the right, and Shenzhou-14 crewed spacecraft at nadir.

On the latest space mission, Gui Haichao, an expert in payloads from Beijing's top aerospace research institute, will join Maj. Gen. Jing Haipeng, who is on his fourth space flight, and spacecraft engineer Zhu Yangzhu.

They will be staying on the space station for approximately five months, during which they will perform scientific experiments and routine maintenance.

The US and China's Race to Dominate Space

China and the US are competing to achieve milestones in space, which reflects their increasing competition for leadership and influence in various fields.

While the US currently holds an advantage in spending, supply chains, and capabilities, China has made significant strides in certain areas, such as bringing back lunar samples and exploring the moon's far side with a rover. Despite this rivalry, the two countries have maintained a friendly relationship in their space endeavors.

The United States plans to send astronauts to the moon by the end of 2025 with the help of private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

This is part of a renewed effort to send people on space missions. Both the US and China have successfully landed rovers on Mars, and China also intends to land a spacecraft on an asteroid, following in the US's footsteps.

The space race between China and the US has been heating up in recent years, with both countries investing heavily in their respective space programs.

While the US has traditionally been seen as the leader in space exploration, China's rapid advancements have put it on track to become a serious challenger.

As competition heats up between these two superpowers of outer-space exploration, there are concerns about how this rivalry could impact international relations more broadly - especially given that tensions already exist across many issues, including trade disputes, military maneuvers, and cybersecurity threats.