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Earthrise over the moon. China aims to set up a lunar research base sooner than planned. Photo: AFP/Nasa

China speeds up moon base plan in space race against the US

  • The new aim of the Chang’e 8 moon landing mission is to set up a lunar research station by around 2027, space authority deputy director says
  • Concerns over US Artemis Accords programme may be behind uncharacteristic rush from the Chinese side, scientists behind project say

China will set up a research base on the moon by around 2027, eight years earlier than previously scheduled.

That is according to Chinese space authorities, who told state media about the new completion target for the unmanned lunar station, which is being jointly built with Russia, on Monday.

China’s Chang’e 8 moon landing mission originally aimed to carry out scientific experiments such as 3D printing of lunar dust, which would follow two more launches in the next few years.

But Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, said the Chang’e 8’s new job was to put an unmanned research station on the surface of the moon, previously scheduled for 2035.

Wu did not give details on the reason behind the change of plan, but stressed that the purpose of the mission was to “build a solid foundation for the peaceful use of lunar resources”.

A conceptual impression of a Chinese lunar base. Photo: China Academy of Space Technology

For years, China’s moon programme has progressed steadily and at its own pace, with Chinese space authorities saying repeatedly that they were not interested in a race like that during the US-Soviet Cold War.

But the thinking of Chinese policymakers might have changed because they felt threatened by a recent move by the United States, according to some scientists involved in the planning of the future moon project.

Shortly after the Chang’e 5 mission brought lunar samples back to Earth, Zhang Chongfeng, deputy chief designer of China’s manned space programme, criticised the United States for pushing an “Enclosure Movement” on the moon.

The Enclosure Movement was a campaign by British aristocrats in the 18th and 19th centuries to seize land that was formerly owned in common by all members of a village.

The Chinese space authorities believed that US space agency Nasa’s Artemis programme, a successor to its Apollo programme, would do something similar on the moon, according to Zhang.

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China’s Chang’e 5 makes lunar touchdown, collects rocks and soil on the moon

China’s Chang’e 5 makes lunar touchdown, collects rocks and soil on the moon

The 1969 Apollo 11 mission landed the first human on the moon, and the Artemis programme planned to send US astronauts back there by 2024. However, unlike Apollo, the new programme aimed to have the astronauts remain there, along with the construction of some large-scale facilities in the moon’s orbit and on its surface.

The US government and Nasa have proposed the Artemis Accords to set rules for future lunar activities. Already signed by more than a dozen US allies, the accords allow governments or private companies to protect their facilities or “heritage sites” by setting up safety zones that forbid the entry of others.

Nasa pushes back crewed moon landing to 2025 in race with China

China and Russia are opposed to the accords because this challenges the existing international protocols including the UN’s Moon Agreement, which states that the moon belongs to the entire human race, not a certain party, according to Zhang.

But to effectively counter the US on the moon, China would have to “take some forward-looking measures and deploy them ahead of schedule”, he said in a paper published in domestic peer-reviewed journal Aerospace Shanghai in June.

The Chang’e programme, named after the Chinese lunar goddess, plans to defeat Artemis by exploiting its weaknesses, according to Zhang and his colleagues.

China, US space rivalry ‘may heat up’ after Nasa’s Artemis Accords signed

The Artemis programme is extremely complex. It requires building a facility similar to the International Space Station in the moon’s orbit, with the programme’s estimated cost at US$100 billion by 2025. Nasa’s chief inspector recently warned that the first landing could be delayed by several years due to technical and other challenges.

The Chinese programme would take a simpler approach, Zhang said. Instead of building an orbiting “gateway”, China would directly put a nuclear-powered research station on the moon. The unmanned facility would allow visiting Chinese astronauts to stay on the moon for as long as their American peers but only at a fraction of the cost.

To counter the US territorial claims, China would also deploy a mobile station. This moon base on wheels would be able to roam freely on the lunar surface for over 1,000km, and the use of artificial intelligence technology would mean astronauts need not be present for its operation.

And, unlike the American programme, which focuses on surface activities, China would pay a great deal of attention to the exploration of caves, which could provide a natural shelter for the construction of permanent settlements.

01:04

Chinese rover spots mysterious cube-shaped object on the moon

Chinese rover spots mysterious cube-shaped object on the moon

Analysis of the latest lunar samples by Chinese scientists suggests there had been a lot more volcanic activities on the moon than previously estimated.

Data collected by previous Chang’e missions helped researchers discover more than 10 holes on the moon that could lead to underground chambers being formed by volcanic eruptions. These sites would be the focus of China’s robotic and manned lunar mission in the future, according to Zhang and his colleagues.

By 2050, China could establish a leading position on the moon with cooperation from countries such as Russia, the senior space scientist estimated.

However, the many challenges ahead include the limits of energy supply and transport capacity.

To tackle these, China is developing a 1-megawatt nuclear reactor for space missions, 10 times more powerful than similar devices planned by Nasa.

A superheavy rocket is also under development to lift 150 tonnes of payload to orbit, the same as the capacity of SpaceX’s Starship.
The Chinese rocket would not be reusable like the Starship, but China is developing a hypersonic plane powered by air-breathing and rocket engines and capable of both reaching orbit and landing at an airport. This plane could be built at a lower cost than the Starship, according to scientists involved in the project.

According to the Chinese government, a prototype of this space plane conducted a test flight last summer.

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