CHINA will launch its youngest-ever crew of astronauts to the Tiangong space station this week as Beijing pursues plans for a human-crewed mission to the Moon by the decade’s end. Tiangong is the crown jewel of Beijing’s burgeoning space program, which has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon and made China the third country to put humans in orbit.
The Shenzhou-17 mission trio – commander Tang Hongbo, who was born in October 1975 and is now aged around forty, his colleague Tang Shengjie, 33, and Jiang Xinlin, 35 – will overlap with the three astronauts currently on board China’s orbiting station for several months. They are tasked with carrying out scientific experiments and conducting medical research.
They will also help build up the station, slated to become fully operational by 2022 and carrying cutting-edge scientific equipment such as the world’s first space-based cold atomic clock system. Unlike previous Chinese crews, the new astronauts on board will include a civilian – Beihang University professor Gui Haichao, who is not part of the armed forces, as was the norm before.
China’s leaders are keen to transform the country into one of the top three space powers in the world, a status it would relish as an indicator of its global standing. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) outlines an ambitious agenda to expand China’s capabilities and make it a leader in the global space industry.
That includes constructing an even larger space station that would eventually be capable of hosting more astronauts and a giant space telescope 300 times more potent than the U.S.’s Hubble, with a broader field of view.
The aim is to broaden humanity’s understanding of the cosmos and help solve significant Earth challenges. It also facilitates global consensus on our shared responsibility for utilizing outer space for peaceful purposes and safeguarding it against threats.
Beijing is also keen to establish a global governance system for outer space, which it says will ensure the rights and interests of all nations. This is reflected in its enhanced work in formulating international standards and rules related to outer space, strengthening research on international law, and providing high-level international exchanges and cooperation in the sector. The country is also focusing on developing its space launch systems and promoting the development of its domestic aerospace industry. As such, its ambitions in the sector are not merely to be a significant player in global space exploration but to serve as an engine of economic growth and social progress on Earth. This is what it means to be “a major force for the benefit of mankind.” Xi has highlighted these goals on multiple occasions. In a speech marking the National Day of Space Flight in April, he said China’s aspirations in space were rooted in its core values.
