Moon base to deep space: How China seeks to close gap with US

With a fiery blaze, a Chinese Long March 2 rocket blasted into a starry night sky from this remote corner of Inner Mongolia early Wednesday, shooting three Chinese astronauts toward China’s space station – and propelling the country’s growing space ambitions.

China’s goal, revealed in an official blueprint announced this month, is to become the world’s leader in key space fields by 2050. Its sweeping plan extends in scope from exploring the moon, Mars, and deep space, and probes topics like the origins of the universe, quantum mechanics, habitable planets, and extraterrestrial life.

“We are extremely confident,” says Li Yingliang, chief of general technology of the China Manned Space Agency, speaking with reporters at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on the eve of Wednesday’s launch, China’s 14th crewed launch and 33rd overall. “Every aspect of our [space] technology is getting more mature by the day.”

China began its crewed space program in the early 1990s, later than the United States and Russia did, and had periods of rocky development and long delays. But today, China’s advances are such that it is effectively catching up, with key postponed projects now reaching fruition, experts say. Officials predict some of the young astronauts aboard Wednesday’s space flight could work from a future Chinese base on the moon.

“The last few years have gone really, really well for them,” says Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge and expert on China’s space program. “All this stuff they have had waiting ... now they can actually do it.”

A cosmic competitor?

China has entered “the fast lane” of science innovation, Wang Chi, director of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told a Beijing press conference announcing the country’s space plan on Oct. 15. According to the blueprint, China will be able to make important breakthroughs in space science by 2027, “rank among the international forefront ... in 2035, and become a world space science power by 2050,” he said.

Indeed, as China makes rapid advances in space exploration, some top U.S. space officials have increasingly cast Beijing as a competitive threat. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has warned, for example, that China could dominate key terrain and resources on the moon and exclude other countries.

“There is definitely potential for tension there,” although it is not inevitable, says Dr. McDowell. “If one country has an extensive functioning base and the other doesn’t, then ... that country is likely to determine standards.”

Chinese officials downplay such competition. Mr. Nelson’s “worries are unnecessary,” says Mr. Li.

Still, whether in parallel or in competition, China is pushing ahead its near-term plans to put an astronaut on the moon by 2030, which would make it only the second country to do so after the U.S. China also plans to build a moon base in coming years – as does the U.S.

“We want to put a person on the moon as soon as possible,” says Zhang Wei, director of the Utilization Development Department of the Space Applications Technology and Engineering Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Lunar ambitions

China is already chalking up global firsts in its moon exploration program. In June, for example, a Chinese lunar lander named Chang’e 6 successfully collected rocks and soil from the moon’s far side – something no other country has done – and returned them to earth for study. In 2020, the Chang’e 5 spacecraft brought back lunar soil samples from the moon’s near side.

China recently revealed that it is manufacturing “moon bricks” that simulate soil collected from the moon’s surface and could be used as possible building blocks for a future lunar base. The crew of the just-launched Shenzhou-19 mission, which docked safely at China’s space station on Wednesday, will perform durability tests on some of those bricks.

Such steps are important, experts say, as both China and the U.S. work toward building moon bases in what is considered prime lunar territory such as the moon’s South Pole, where it is believed water is trapped in rocks. “What might matter is if China establishes a base on the south pole before the U.S. and claims the territory,” says Dr. McDowell.

China plans to launch two more Chang’e lunar lander missions to the moon’s south pole in 2026 and 2028 that will carry out resource surveys and create a scientific research station. It is also developing a lunar rover vehicle, and researching ways to safely lengthen its astronaut deployments beyond the current six months. In September, it unveiled the design for its first lunar spacesuit, a lightweight one.

Relay race

A critical element of China’s crewed space program, experts say, is the steady, cumulative experience of its multiple generations of astronauts – a strength in full display in the run-up to Wednesday’s launch.

In the chilly darkness Wednesday morning, a cheering crowd of hundreds of Chinese schoolchildren and other well-wishers crowded bleachers as the Shenzhou-19’s three-person crew strode out in spacesuits, waving, as a band played a patriotic Chinese song.

“We learn from the astronauts! We salute the astronauts!” read a huge red banner with yellow Chinese characters.

The crew is commanded by veteran astronaut Cai Xuzhe, who took part in an earlier space station mission in 2022. Accompanying him are two younger astronauts from what China calls its “90s” generation, former air force pilot Song Lingdong and senior flight engineer Wang Haoze, who is only the third woman to carry out a crewed space mission in China.

“Manned spaceflight is a relay race,” Commander Cai told a press conference on the eve of the launch. Generations of astronauts and thousands of aerospace workers are taking part toward a single goal, he says: “Glory for the country.”

Yet even as the space race intensifies, Chinese officials acknowledged their many hurdles ahead, and voiced hopes for more international cooperation.

While China’s lunar landing mission is going smoothly now, “We are soberly aware that the ... technology is complex ... and the challenges are huge,” says Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency. Ahead of the launch, he also praised NASA’s “high regard for the safety of its astronauts” and extended China’s “best wishes for the safe return” of two U.S. astronauts delayed at the International Space Station.

China and the United States “both want to further humanity through space exploration,” says Mr. Li, the chief of general technology, recalling past extensive dialogues between China’s agency and NASA. “We hope we can carry out more practical cooperation and exchanges with the U.S. and other countries.”

Editor’s note: This article, originally published Oct. 30, was updated Nov. 6 to correct the spelling of Wang Haoze’s name.