Safety comes second in China s race for space
China has been rapidly expanding its space ambitions, but without international collaboration experts warn that lives are being put at risk
16 May 2021 • 4:00pm
China s Long March-5B Y2 rocket recently made an uncontrolled re-entry, and many feared it was going to crash into a populated area
Credit: China Daily via REUTERS
The remnants of China’s biggest rocket came crashing into the Indian Ocean just west of the Maldives archipelago a week ago on Sunday May 9.
It was, according to Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, a “reckless” end to one of the largest uncontrolled re-entries of a spacecraft in history.
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| UPDATED: 09:12, Fri, Jan 8, 2021
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The Tiangong space station will include living quarters for three astronauts to spend a period of around six months in space. Completion is planned for 2022 and it will orbit 340-420 kilometres above the Earth. The launch of its core module is scheduled for next spring.
Development of the station is part of more than 40 planned Chinese rocket launches this year. It is the country’s highest ever amount, outlining its ambitions to dominate space.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) revealed the target at a meeting on January 4, according to Space News.
Last year, the nation conducted 39 launches, a stark contrast to their space exploration output prior to 2007. Until then, they had never launched more than 10 times in one calendar year.
Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, told state broadcaster CCTV: “We firmly believe that it will play a major role in the forefront of scientific exploration of humanity and also in the development of our space technology.”