“Africans don’t choose sides, at least for now…so these countries are typically not locked into one provider,” said Mustapha Iderawumi, a senior analyst at Space in Africa—a Lagos, Nigeria-based market research firm.
Yesterday, four space industry and China experts appeared before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics testifying that if the US doesn’t step up, it risks ceding space superiority to China. That risk, according to witnesses, comes on all fronts—from the Moon and planetary science, to PNT systems and LEO security.
A matching set of orbital launches out of China on Saturday brought the nation’s running total for the year to 70: a new record for the US’ closest rival in cadence.
The nominee to lead the Pentagon’s space policy wants to streamline collaboration between the Space Force and NRO.
Forget boots on the Moon. China looks like it’s going to beat the US to extract water from the lunar surface.
China’s message to the US space agency urged the American spacecraft to stay put while Beijing maneuvered its own assets, NASA space sustainability director Drew Alvin said during a panel at the International Astronautical Congress, noting that it’s “the first time that has ever happened.”
China has parlayed its “Space Silk Road” initiative into a network of 80 international infrastructure projects by weaving its comms tech, ground infrastructure, and satellite manufacturing capabilities into worldwide space programs, according to a new report.
Beijing is pressing ahead with an ambitious space science effort designed to close the gap with—or even exceed—US capabilities in the coming decades. If our elected leaders believe that America’s continued leadership in space is paramount, they must press our national lead in space science.
As a former space shuttle pilot and commander whose crews helped build the ISS, I am appalled that NASA has reportedly changed its plans for future commercial space stations.
“The project will heighten the risk of turning the space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system.”
China announced that it will share lunar samples with international researchers and fly other nations’ payloads aboard future Moon and Mars missions—a giant leap for Beijing’s space diplomacy efforts.
“There is not a global competition yet for Mars, so we need to take the right thing at the right time,” Dumbacher said. “The Moon first, then Mars.”
China’s space program had a busy start to the year, and it isn’t letting off the gas anytime soon.
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