China makes final push for space station, eyeing Russian expertise
Crewed mission sent on board with construction slated to wrap up in 2022
BEIJING -- With its successful launch of a manned spacecraft on Sunday, China seeks to finish construction of its space station within the year and potentially enlist Russia's help and expertise.
The Shenzhou 14 was launched Sunday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China with three astronauts on board. The spacecraft is docking with the Tiangong space station, with the astronauts to spend about six months there.
China will launch its laboratory modules Wentian in July and Mengtian in October to be linked to the space station. The astronauts will help dock the modules and set up test operations for various equipment. The T-shaped space station is due for completion by the end of the year.
The International Space Station, overseen primarily by Russia and the U.S., had been scheduled to operate until 2024, with an extension to 2030. However, Russia, at odds with the West over its invasion of Ukraine, has announced its withdrawal from the space station, according to Russian media.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's state-owned space company Roscosmos, will reportedly visit China in July to promote talks regarding cooperation between China and Russia. Chinese media also reported the Chinese ambassador to Russia as saying "China attaches great importance to cooperation with Russia in the space sector, and there is a way forward in expanding cooperation."
The development follows an interview Rogozin gave to state-run CGTN China International Television in April, when he said the two countries could consider building a module for Russian use on the Chinese space station.
China and Russia agreed last year to jointly build a lunar base. In February, the two also agreed to begin talks on cooperation between China's Beidou and Russia's Glonass positioning satellites. Such satellites are necessary for electronic devices and vehicles to obtain location information.
Completed in 2020, Beidou has been singled out by Beijing for growth. The Chinese are calling for its use in a wide range of industries, claiming it has more satellites than the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and covers the entire world. With many companies in China also using GPS, leveraging Beidou and Glonass would serve to reduce their dependency on GPS.
China is expected to pursue an advantage in the battle for supremacy in space by teaming up with Russia, which possesses a wealth of experience in the space field.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's leadership aspires to become a space powerhouse that can compete with the U.S., with the construction of a space station becoming a pillar of that aim along with lunar and Mars exploration. A Chinese lunar rover made a soft landing on the moon in 2013, and a Mars rover landed successfully in May 2021 to explore the surface. Construction of the space station began in April 2021.
Xi is positioning himself for an unprecedented third term in office at the twice-a-decade National Congress slated for this fall. He seeks to boost national prestige by accelerating the construction of the space station.
The U.S. and Europe have voiced concern about China's space program, which is closely tied to the People's Liberation Army. The three Chinese astronauts in Sunday's launch are former air force pilots, and a state-owned military company is building the space station and rockets. In 2021, wreckage from a large Chinese rocket fell into the Indian Ocean, drawing criticism from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.