Opinion | In the new space race with the US, how far can China’s cooperation with Russia go?
- Uncertainty over US foreign policy is pushing Russia and China to expand space cooperation
- However, China’s own advances in space research have shifted the balance between Moscow and Beijing
Moreover, China has been leading the world in space launches, with 39 conducted in 2018 and 34 in 2019, leaving the United States and Russia behind. This year, China has accounted for 35 per cent of global space launches.
Meanwhile, the Russian space industry has suffered budget cuts following the economic recession of 2014-2017 and the economic fallout from Covid-19. New spending cuts are planned until 2023. Russia’s launch activities have fallen by about 40 per cent compared to last year.
China has also made a great leap forward in space research with two ambitious missions: the Chang’e-5 probe has returned with the first lunar samples in decades, and Tianwen-1 is China’s first mission to Mars. Chinese space missions are making international lists, including one by MIT Technology Review.
The diplomatic implications of a crystallising space race are stronger than they might seem. In early December, US Vice-President Mike Pence said that Americans are “in the lead” in the space race which started in the 1950s.