Before the International Space Station was launched into orbit in 1998, the United States signed documents with several other countries agreeing to the peaceful use of orbiting laboratories. The agreement included Russia, Japan, Canada, and 11 European countries. China was left out of the plan.
Almost a decade later, China has expressed interest in joining the people aboard the space station. The European Space Agency, along with South Korea, expressed support for the addition. The final decision was ultimately opposed by the United States.
“I think we need to understand that Congress gave us very clear direction in 2011,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Any bilateral cooperation with China needs to be proven to not share information that would give China any advantage.”
In 2011, Congress passed a spending bill that would ban cooperation between NASA and China on some scientific research, including space. Lawmakers argued that China’s plans were too secretive and tied to the military.
NASA finalizes strategy for human presence in space
China poses a new threat, sparking a new space race. (Star Lab)
“I think there’s no question that they’re economic competitors, and they’re also geopolitical competitors for leadership,” Melroy said.
China has begun developing its own space station. From 2011 to 2018, it launched and deorbited two short-term space laboratories. The first part of the Tiangong Space Station, translated as Tiangong Space Station, was launched in 2011.
“We’re focused on China right now. China is a threat. We’re in a new space race,” said Jeffrey Manber, president of Voyager Space International and Space Station Operations.
Voyager is one of three companies contracted by NASA to develop a new space station. Voyager says it is on track to launch Star Lab in 2028. There are also concerns that NASA could face funding cuts. If the companies designing the next space station experience delays, NASA could deorbit the space station before a replacement is ready.
Melroy maintains that the agency will not allow China to be the sole operator of an orbiting space station, a storyline that resonates with that of the space shuttle program.
The American space shuttle was the world’s first reusable aircraft. It launched like a rocket and landed like a plane. In 2004, then-President George W. Bush announced a new space initiative that included retiring the Shuttle by 2010 and having new spacecraft conduct their first crewed missions by 2014 at the latest.
NASA finalizes strategy for human presence in space
President Bush said in 2004, “After the Shuttle is retired, crew probes will be able to carry astronauts and scientists to the space station.”
The government considered multiple contractors to develop vehicles under the Constellation program. In the ensuing years, program delays and funding issues led the Obama administration to remove the program from the 2011 budget.
“Pursuing this new strategy requires modifying the old strategy, in part because the old strategy, including the Constellation Plan, did not deliver on its promise in many ways,” he said at the time. President Barack Obama said in April 2010.
Instead, the administration directed more than $6 billion to support commercial companies that build spacecraft. The shuttle program ended after a year. American rockets were not yet available. The United States has had to rely on Russia to continue space travel.
“It was a tough time. I think we made the right decision. The era of the shuttle is over. We needed to make strategic investments in our industry to develop the ability to take humans into space,” Melroy said. said. “There were a lot of people who thought we had canceled the space program.”
Nine years after the shuttle was retired, NASA will finally launch an American-made rocket capable of carrying humans to the space station. This was six years later than President Bush’s original forecast. SpaceX’s 2020 launch was also the first commercial rocket launch in the continental United States.
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China has created a new competition in space exploration. (Alkisis)
NASA faces the same prospect again, but officials insist it has a different strategy for competing in space with China.
“I think this is different in the sense that we are still the leader. We are going to continue to be the leader. We are going to remain the partner of choice. We are very close to our international partners. We are working well with them and they would like to continue working with us.” Melroy said.
The only people to have visited the Tiangong Space Station were ancient Chinese astronauts. The country has expressed openness to accepting astronauts from other countries. The Chinese government is increasing cooperation with Sweden, Russia, and Italy. In recent months, China’s first international payloads have been launched on Chinese commercial rockets. This included Oman’s first satellite with artificial intelligence for urban planning, forest monitoring and disaster management.
If China becomes the only permanent presence in space, international partners could be forced to rely on Taikonauts for their long-term needs in low Earth orbit. Commercial companies may also be forced to take similar actions.
Dave Barnhart, CEO of Archis, said, “You have to be very careful about technology transfer, and you have to be careful about how you actually work with international companies to make sure you don’t end up giving away anything related to technology transfer.” We also need to be careful about whether we cooperate with other parties.”
California-based Arkisys is working to develop a robotic service port that companies can use in orbit.
“We can provide cargo, supplies, robotic operating capabilities, fuel, whatever is needed to support the service architecture,” Barnhart said.
Barnhart added that the port could help keep the U.S. competitive in space if a commercial station isn’t ready when the space station is decommissioned. The port will be robotized and will have no humans on board, but it will give the United States a permanent presence.
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“In fact, we [space station] “We are autonomous and can move much faster,” Barnhart said. We can allow a variety of orbital transport vehicles to arrive and carry cargo, carry fuel, and carry new payloads. ”
Bret Baier currently serves as Anchor and Special Reports Editor-in-Chief for FOX News Channel (FNC), and is the network’s chief political anchor and co-anchor of the network’s election coverage. (6:00-7:00 PM ET). Baier is also the host of FOX News Audio’s “Bret Baier Podcast,” which includes Common Ground and the All-Star Panel. He joined FNC in 1998 as the inaugural reporter in the Atlanta bureau and is currently based in Washington, DC.
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