China's Space Program News Thread

[Skywatcher]

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Oops! Did he just let his inner thoughts slip for a moment here?

He's talking to those inside the Beltway idiots (likely to be friends of one Ron Vara) who think that Beidou is fake news (yes, there are still plenty of people like that in DC, who think that if you sneak a couple nuclear warheads onto Taiwan, you'll solve the Taiwan question).

 

[Helius]

I thought that was already part of the plan for the space station; in fact, the scope of the space station program appears to have kept creeping from the original 3-module, 60-ton design. The telescope was added later on. The back-up core module and its associated modules will be likely to be added to the current ones too. All told, the whole Chinese space station could end up to be a 7-module, 180 ton monster.

AFAIK it was more of a conceptual study rather than a fully formulated, finalised plan as the 2nd Tianhe was meant as a backup. But since the first deployment went swimmingly, now they're sitting on an extra core module with no more service modules slated to be built other than the current two under construction right now.

Who knows, maybe with further international participation (e.g. UNOOSA, Italy, France, Austria etc.) and perhaps even external funding as a result, an enlargement to the current config could be justified. It's certainly feasible at the very least.

 

[Temstar]

Considering all these achievements that have come to fruition (and loads more yet to come) are the result of many prior years of planning, preparation and experimentation, any future missions currently in the pipeline would've already been budgeted and in progress as of now.

So for CNSA to receive additional funding at this stage we'd be talking about missions and objectives that are yet to be conceived and are beyond the scope of whatever roadmap they currently have for the next 15-20 years or more.

In other words even if the CNSA receives an increased budget over what's already been earmarked we likely won't be seeing any tangible results until decades down the line.

This kind of did happen. In the wake of the successful Chang'e 5 mission last year Long March 9 was approved.

You look at the other big missions on the horizon: Joint lunar surface station with Russia, manned lunar landing, Mars sample return, phase 2 space station expansion, tengyun spaceplane etc, it certainly seem like CNSA budget is on the up and up.

 

[Temstar]

AFAIK it was more of a conceptual study rather than a fully formulated, finalised plan as the 2nd Tianhe was meant as a backup. But since the first deployment went swimmingly, now they're sitting on an extra core module with no more service modules slated to be built other than the current two under construction right now.

Who knows, maybe with further international participation (e.g. UNOOSA, Italy, France, Austria etc.) and perhaps even external funding as a result, an enlargement to the current config could be justified. It's certainly feasible at the very least.

There's actually been discussions with other countries for non-Chinese modules for the phase 2 expansion. Here for example is an Italian module proposal that came up for discussion in 2019:

 

[KampfAlwin]

This kind of did happen. In the wake of the successful Chang'e 5 mission last year Long March 9 was approved.

You look at the other big missions on the horizon: Joint lunar surface station with Russia, manned lunar landing, Mars sample return, phase 2 space station expansion, tengyun spaceplane etc, it certainly seem like CNSA budget is on the up and up.

I’m sure as China’s economy grows, so does their space agency‘s budget. I don’t have to worry about it

 

[TheFoozyOne]

He's talking to those inside the Beltway idiots (likely to be friends of one Ron Vara) who think that Beidou is fake news (yes, there are still plenty of people like that in DC, who think that if you sneak a couple nuclear warheads onto Taiwan, you'll solve the Taiwan question).

It will solve the Taiwan question alright... resulting in China immediately attacking and taking Taiwan with an even better casus belli than independence declaration by Taiwan. It’s not like China will be held back by a few nukes. Even if Taiwan has nukes I doubt they have the guts to use them first.

 

[Skywatcher]

It will solve the Taiwan question alright... resulting in China immediately attacking and taking Taiwan with an even better casus belli than independence declaration by Taiwan. It’s not like China will be held back by a few nukes. Even if Taiwan has nukes I doubt they have the guts to use them first.

There are some very deeply stupid people inside the Beltway. They are high unlikely to ever get the levers of power, but as shown by Trump, it is not completely impossible.

 

[by78]

What, no one has shared these celebratory photos?

 

[plawolf]

It is surprising. China managed to successfully do the entire orbiter + lander + rover combo on Mars on the very first go with all systems being totally indigenous, new, and 100% untested and unproven ... until now.

I was expecting the lander part to be a failure and that wouldn't even be particularly bad. There are only four space agencies capable of putting such payloads into Mars orbit - China, US, Roscosmos, and ESA. To say nothing on landing which has only been done now by two nations. Great to hear for sure but definitely surprising.

That’s because Chinese hackz stole NASA, ESA, Russian and Martian tech! Calling it now, won’t be long before RFA and other CIA rags start their newest round of discrediting China.

 

[iantsai]

PhilLeafSpace
今天 08:37 来自 HUAWEI P30 Pro
长征七号遥三与天舟二号组合体已推出//@Vony7:长征7号遥3正在转运，转运有直播，预计20日发射天舟二号前往天和核心舱对接轨道
@小陵气象航天时间
【最新消息】刚刚，执行#天舟二号#货运飞船发射任务的长征七号遥三火箭从总装厂房缓缓驶出，开始垂直转运至中国文昌航天发射场201发射工位。

News:
08:37 May 16,
Tianzhou-2 Cargoship / CZ-7#03 was transfered to Launch Pad 201, Wenchang Space Center. Tianhou-2 is planned to be launched in May 20. It will be the first ship to be docking to the Tianhe Station and send fuel and supplies for Tianhe and the upcoming Shenzhou-12 Crewship.