before International Space Station It was launched into orbit in 1998, and the United States signed a document with several other countries approving the peaceful use of the orbital laboratory. The agreement included Russia, Japan, Canada and 11 European countries. China was excluded from the plan.
Nearly a decade later, China expressed interest in joining those aboard the space station. The European Space Agency expressed its support for this addition, along with South Korea. The United States ultimately opposed the final resolution.
“I think you have to understand that Congress gave us very clear guidance in 2011,” he added. Deputy Administrator of NASA Pam Milroy said. “Any bilateral cooperation with China would have to be certified so that no information is exchanged that would give China some sort of advantage.”
In 2011, Congress included in a spending bill a direction prohibiting cooperation between NASA and China when it comes to certain scientific research, including in the field of space. The lawmakers said China's program is secret and closely tied to its military.
NASA is finalizing the strategy for human presence in space
China has become a new threat, establishing a new space race. (starlab)
“I think there's no question that they are an economic competitor, and they are also a competitor for geopolitical leadership,” Milroy said.
China began to develop Its own space station. It launched and operated a pair of short-term space laboratories between 2011 and 2018. It launched the first part of the Tiangong Space Station, which translates to Heavenly Palace, in 2011.
“We are very focused on China now. China is a threat. We are in a new situation Space racesaid Voyager Space's head of international and space stations, Jeffrey Manber.
Voyager is one of three companies contracted by NASA that is developing a new space station. Voyager says it is on pace to launch Starlab in 2028. There are some concerns that NASA will face funding cuts. If there is a delay for the companies designing the next space stations, NASA will de-orbit the space station without a replacement ready to launch.
Milroy insists the agency will not allow China to be the sole operator of a space station in orbit, but the story is consistent with that of the space shuttle program.
The American-made space shuttle was the world's first reusable aircraft. It took off like a rocket and landed like a plane. In 2004, Then-President George W. Bush NASA has announced a new space initiative that includes retiring the shuttle from service by 2010 and conducting the first crewed mission aboard a new spacecraft no later than 2014.
NASA is finalizing the strategy for human presence in space
“The Crew Exploration Vehicle will be able to transport astronauts and scientists to the space station after the shuttle is retired,” Bush said in 2004.
The government considered several contractors to develop the vehicle under the Constellation programme. Over the next several years, program delays and funding issues created this problem Obama administration To eliminate the program from the 2011 budget.
“Pursuing this new strategy will require us to review the old strategy,” then-President Barack Obama said in April 2010. “This is in part because the old strategy, including the Constellation program, fell short of its promise in many ways.”
Instead, the administration directed more than $6 billion to support commercial companies that build spacecraft. The shuttle program ended after a year. American-made missiles were not yet available. The United States was forced to rely on Russia to continue space travel.
“It was tough times,” Milroy said. “I think it was the right decision. The time of the shuttle was over. We needed to make a strategic investment in our industry to develop the ability to take humans into space.” “There were a lot of people who thought we had canceled the space program.”
NASA will finally launch American-made missile It could carry humans to the space station, nine years after the shuttle's retirement. That was a six-year delay from Bush's initial expectations. SpaceX's 2020 launch also marks the first commercial rocket on American soil.
Elon Musk moves to establish a star base in Texas, as the “official gateway to Mars”
China has created a new competition for space exploration. (archesis)
While NASA faces the same possibility again, officials insist they have a different strategy for competing in space with China.
“I think it's different in the sense that we're still ahead. We intend to stay ahead. We intend to remain the partner of choice. We work very well with our international partners, and they want to continue working with us.” Milroy said.
Only Chinese astronauts have visited the Tiangong Space Station. The country expressed its openness to hosting astronauts from other countries. Beijing has increased its cooperation with Sweden, Russia and Italy. In recent months, China's first international payload was launched on a Chinese commercial rocket. It included the first Omani satellite equipped with artificial intelligence for urban planning, forest monitoring and disaster management.
If China becomes the only permanent presence in space, international partners may have to rely on astronauts to meet long-term needs in space. Low Earth orbit. Commercial companies may also have to do the same.
“We have to be somewhat careful about technology transfer and how we actually communicate with international companies to make sure we don't give away things associated with it,” said Dave Barnhart, CEO of Arkisys.
California-based Arkisys is creating an automated service port for companies to use while in orbit.
“We can provide cargo, supplies, robotic manipulation capability, fuel, everything needed to support the service architecture,” Barnhart said.
Barnhart added that the port could help preserve it US Be able to compete in space if the commercial station is not ready for launch when the space station is decommissioned. While the port would be automated and would not have humans on board, it would still give the United States some form of permanent presence.
“We actually hope to be a bridge between when (the space station) is taken out of service and when the new commercial space stations are there,” Barnhart said. “We're autonomous, we can move much faster. We can allow different orbital transfer vehicles to come in, to bring in cargo, to bring in fuel, to bring in new payloads.”
