China will double the size of its space station and promotes an alternative to the ISS led by NASA

BEIJING (Reuters) – China plans to expand its space station from three to six modules in the coming years, offering astronauts from other nations an alternative platform for near-Earth missions as the International Space Station (ISS) led by NASA approaches Earth. end of its useful life.

The operational life of the Chinese space station will be more than 15 years, the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a unit of China’s main space contractor, said on Wednesday at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan.

That would be longer than the 10 years previously announced.

China’s self-built space station, also known as Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace in Chinese, has been fully operational since late 2022 and hosts up to three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 km (280 miles).

At 180 metric tons after being expanded to six modules, Tiangong still represents only 40% of the mass of the ISS, which can accommodate a crew of seven astronauts. But the ISS, in orbit for more than two decades, is expected to be decommissioned after 2030, around the same time China has said it hopes to become “a major space power.”

Chinese state media said last year, when Tiangong became fully operational, that China would not “stand by” as the ISS neared retirement, adding that “several countries” had asked to send their astronauts to the Chinese station.

But in a blow to China’s space diplomacy aspirations, the European Space Agency (ESA) said this year it had no budgetary or “political” green light to participate in Tiangong, shelving a years-long plan for a visit. of European astronauts. .

“Giving up cooperation with China in the manned space field is clearly myopicrevealing that the US-led confrontation of camps has led to a new space race,” the Global Times, a Chinese nationalist tabloid, wrote at the time.

Tiangong has become an emblem of China’s growing influence and confidence in its space efforts, and a challenger to the United States in the domain after being cut off from the ISS. US law prohibits any collaboration, direct or indirect, with NASA.

Russiaparticipant in the ISS, has similar space diplomacy plans, suggesting that Moscow’s partners in the BRICS group (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) could build a module for its space station.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said last year that it planned to build a space station composed of six modules that could house up to four cosmonauts.

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