2023-10-08 17:09:25
Russia, which remains a major space power despite the loss of numerous international partnerships, is expected to be overtaken by China by the end of the decade. In this changing geopolitical context, Tiangong, the Chinese space station, might become an essential place in low orbit for many countries. This is why China wants to expand its space station and market its use to as many people as possible.
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China, seeking to align its space programs with the new geostrategic environment and become the world’s second space power, revealed at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku its future plans for its Tiangong space station.
At the congress, Zhāng Qiáon, an official from the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), expressed the wish to expand the size and habitable volume of the Chinese space station in the coming years. The objective is to go from three to six modules and increase its lifespan from 10 to 15 years.
A junction node with six docking ports
Concretely, the idea is to install a junction node similar to the Unity, Harmony and Tranquility modules of the International Space Station (ISS). This junction node, installed on the Tianhe module, will include six docking ports on which two new habitable modules will be positioned.
Zhāng Qiáon also clarified that the Tianhe and Wentian modules will be arranged to support external payloads, and that inflatable modules will be used, serving as potential habitats and technology demonstrators for China’s manned lunar program. Among the improvements planned for Tiangong are the installation of 3D printers, commissioning of intelligent robots and strengthening the capabilities of the robotic arm in use today. An Earth observation system and a space debris detection and warning system are also announced, as well as a digital twin of the station.
A Chinese Hubble in 2024
He also confirmed that the Xuntian space telescope would be launched in 2024. This telescope has the particularity that it will fly a short distance from the station on the same orbit in order to facilitate maintenance operations (upkeep, refueling, replacement of instruments … payload). Its two-meter diameter mirror will be slightly smaller than that of the Hubble Space Telescope (2.4 meters) but its field of view will be much larger.
A space station open to everyone
Although the Chinese space station expanded to six modules represents only 40% of the mass of the ISS, it might become a credible alternative to the private space stations announced to succeed the ISS, which will be decommissioned in January 2031. China, which from 2020 invited all UN member countries to use its space station, plans to commercialize its use and open it to various commercial activities, including space tourism. In this context of opening, traffic and crew rotations to Tiangong might become significant by the end of the decade.
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