China’s Strategic View of Space Exploration:
– China’s space program is more concerned with economic gains, geostrategic positioning and development goals.
– The recent Mars mission forms part of a comprehensive strategy designed to propel China to the ranks of “fully developed, rich and powerful” nations by the year 2049.
– Under President Xi’s command, the People’s Republic has launched two prototype space stations (Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2), and a cargo ship (Tianzhou) able to refuel other spacecraft.
– The China National Space Administration (CNAS) intends to establish a research station on the lunar surface within the next decade.
“The universe is an ocean, the Moon is the Diaoyu Islands, Mars is Huangyan Island. If we don’t go there now even though we’re capable of doing so, then we will be blamed by our descendants,” — Ye Peijian, the head of the Chinese lunar exploration program
