China will build a space station of its own, a sign that the communist nation is willing to use its profits from American debt payments to usher in a new era of Chinese dominance in the heavens and on the earth.
With its announcement on the eve of the last US space shuttle launch, China has underscoring the end of the United States’ leadership in space. Under the Obama regime, NASA has been redirected into an agency that will see an international Muslim outreach program as Fox News reported last year.
A Digital Trends report details the Chinese plan to build a permanent orbiting space station by 2020, suggesting that a flurry of Chinese space activity will soon begin in support of the mission.
At 60 tons, the Chinese station is much lighter and smaller than the International Space Station, but will be a testament to Chinese space prowess when completed.
After deploying its own space station, the nation will be poised to conduct a space exploration program independent of international constraints.
To support the space station mission, the Chinese are constructing a new cargo spaceship that will transport supplies and equipment to the facility while a separate manned spaceship will transport personnel.
Engineering will be a top priority for China, but thanks to an economy fueled by massive exports and by interest payments through its international investments in Western government debt, the communist nation seems well prepared to meet the bold challenge that lies ahead.
China is regarded by many as being a late entrant into the international space race. It was not until about a decade ago that the nation put an astronaut into orbit. The first spacewalk was performed by the Chinese just three years ago, showing an accelerating trend, but the nation still has a lot of work to do if it will get its space station ready in less than 10 years.
Naming the space station and its supporting space vessels is another task that the nation must perform. To do this, the communist government has opened up a contest where the public can make suggestions. The name for the cargo spaceship is due before the end of May and the name for the space station itself is due by the end of June.
The Chinese space station will be equipped with two experiment modules that will presumably be used to develop science and technology that will propel the nation into a new era of technological development.
