Space Science In China

As one of the eighteen field-specific reports comprising the comprehensive scope of the strategic general report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this sub-report addresses long-range planning for developing science and technology in the field of space science. They each craft a roadmap for their sphere of development to 2050. In their entirety, the general and sub-group reports analyze the evolution and laws governing the development of science and technology, describe the decisive impact of science and technology on the modernization process, predict that the world is on the eve of an impending S&T revolution, and call for China to be fully prepared for this new round of S&T advancement. Based on the detailed study of the demands on S&T innovation in China's modernization, the reports draw a framework for eight basic and strategic systems of socio-economic development with the support of science and technology, work out China's S&T roadmaps for the relevant eight basic and strategic systems in line with China's reality, further detail S&T initiatives of strategic importance to China's modernization, and provide S&T decision-makers with comprehensive consultations for the development of S&T innovation consistent with China's reality. Supported by illustrations and tables of data, the reports provide researchers, government officials and entrepreneurs with guidance concerning research directions, the planning process, and investment. Founded in 1949, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the nation's highest academic institution in natural sciences. Its major responsibilities are to conduct research in basic and technological sciences, to undertake nationwide integrated surveys on natural resources and ecological environment, to provide the country with scientific data and consultations for government's decision-making, to undertake government-assigned projects with regard to key S&T problems in the process of socio-economic development, to initiate personnel training, and to promote China's high-tech enterprises through its active engagement in these areas.

Space science in China is one of the most active areas in modern science, and China has played a dynamic and steadily increasing role in this field since the 1960s. Until recently, however, activity in China was a mystery to the rest of the world. With the commercial importance of space, and the fact that space is now used as a "laboratory" to carry out various experiments, China has recently emerged as an important international competitor. Space Science in China provides a clear understanding of the latest research and progress in such wide-ranging areas as the development and research in solar-terrestrial science, space astronomy, geoscience, remote sensing, microgravity science, and life science.

In 2019, China astonished the world by landing a spacecraft and rover on the far side of the Moon, something never achieved by any country before. China had already become the world’s leading spacefaring nation by rockets launched, sending more into orbit than any other. China is now a great space superpower alongside the United States and Russia, sending men and women into orbit, building a space laboratory (Tiangong) and sending probes to the Moon and asteroids. Roadmap 2050 promises that China will set up bases on the Moon and Mars and lead the world in science and technology by mid-century. China’s space programme is one of the least well-known, but this book will bring the reader up to date with its mysteries, achievements and exciting plans. China has built a fleet of new, powerful Long March rockets, four launch bases, tracking stations at home and abroad, with gleaming new design and production facilities. China is poised to build a large, permanent space station, bring back lunar rocks, assemble constellations of communications satellites and send spaceships to Mars, the moons of Jupiter and beyond. A self-sustaining lunar base, Yuegong, has already been simulated. In space, China is the country to watch.

This volume explains the beginnings and expansion of China's space program, analyzing how China is now able to hold such ambitions and how the interaction between technology, politics and economics has influenced the Chinese space program. It opens by tracing out the earlier development of the space program and identifying the successes and problems that plagued this initial effort, later focusing upon its development over the past decade and into the future. As China is now able to reach into outer space with its machines and, since 2003, with its humans, the authors examine how this move from a non-participant status to a state operating at the highest level of space activities has confirmed its potential place as the new economic and military superpower of the twenty-first century. They also demonstrate how recent successes mean that China is now confronted by an issue previously encountered by other space ‘powers’, such as the United States and the former Soviet Union: what is the value of the space program, given its high costs and likelihood of dramatic failure? Chinese Space Policy will be of great interest to students of space studies, Chinese politics, security studies, and international relations in general.

This book describes the status quo of space science in China, details the scientific questions to be addressed by the Chinese space science community in 2016-2030, and proposes key strategic goals, space science programs and missions, the roadmap and implementation approaches. Further, it explores the supporting technologies needed and provides an outlook of space science beyond the year 2030. “Taikong” means “outer space” in Chinese, and space science is one of the most important areas China plans to develop in the near future. This book is authored by Ji Wu, a leader of China's space science program, together with National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a leading institute responsible for planning and managing most of China’s space science missions. It also embodies the viewpoints shared by many space scientists and experts on future space science development. Through this book, general readers and researchers alike will gain essential insights into the current developments and future prospects of space science in China. Government decision-makers will also find the book a useful reference for strategies and planning in the field of space science.

This study is the product of a long view of space exploration and the conversations about space in China. It locates the multiple conversations about space exploration and utilisation as they are in the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), within other conversations about space culture in the world. China is viewed by Western researchers though many lenses which are examined here critically. In previous studies, writers explain away China‘s space programme with the easy answers of a "Space Race" and a "China Threat", in which the space programme is seen as merely an example of global competition, or threat, but this thesis challenges those barriers to Western understanding of the Chinese public conversation of space culture. In this study, critical theory and an underlying epistemology within a post-Enlightenment cultural frame are applied to official, archival and ephemeral texts and images. The manner of the critical application is distinguished from derivate techniques operationalised as Open Source Intelligence. The concept of Place, and within that, Foucault’s linguistic concept of “Heterotopia”, is significant both in understanding the Chinese overseas space bases on Earth and the temporal and spatial dislocations experienced in space missions. In acknowledging the interpretative approach, an empirical study, a "Q-sort" has been carried out, which demonstrates that the key factor in the Chinese conversation is Science, within the context of modernisation, tempered by Chinese cultural affirmation and international co-operation. The thesis concludes by providing general principles in future work for successful research into the popular culture of space exploration.

China's position in the world has been evolving. It seeks increased influence and independence from foreign powers with the ultimate goal of preserving China's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and political system. Over the long term, China seeks to transform the international system to better suit its interests, but seeks to integrate itself into the existing international system over the short term with the goal of reshaping the Asia-Pacific political environment into one in which its interests must be given greater attention. China's pursuit of space power is intended to support this strategy. China views the development of space power as a necessary move for a country that wants to strengthen its national power. Indeed, China's goal is to become a space power on par with the United States and to foster a space industry that is the equal of those in the United States, Europe, and Russia. This book begins with an elaborate discussion on China's progress in space technologies and examines the implications it has on the United States. Furthermore, this title reviews the evolution of China's military thinking and the changed role of space within that context. It briefly examines China's space capabilities and development before discussing its concepts for military space operations and concludes with future Chinese space operations.