For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest artificial structure ever assembled in orbit. For starters, it would take a ridiculous number of launches to deploy all of the necessary elements to space. Given the specifications cited in the document, there is a great deal of skepticism about this proposal. The same outline specifies that this spacecraft will be "a major strategic aerospace equipment for the future use of space resources, exploration of the mysteries of the universe and staying in long-term."
One of the project's main goals will reportedly be to find ways to keep the spacecraft's mass down while ensuring they are structurally sound enough to launch to orbit.Īccording to the project outline published by the Chinese foundation and cited by the South China Daily Mail (SCDM), the spacecraft elements will be built on Earth and then launched individually to orbit to be assembled in space. Each of these projects has been awarded $2.3 million (the equivalent of ¥15 million) in funding to further research and development. This ambitious proposal was one of ten submitted by The National Natural Science Foundation of China at a meeting in Beijing earlier this month. Two years ago, China became the first nation to land a robotic mission on the far side of the moon (the Chang'e-4 lander and rover). Earlier this year, China became the second nation in the world to successfully land a rover on the surface of Mars and the first to land a mission that consisted of an orbiter, lander and rover. This proposal comes at a time when China has been achieving multiple milestones in space. Among the many proposals the country's leaders are considering for its latest five-year plan, one involved creating an " ultra-large spacecraft spanning kilometers." Having this spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) would be a game-changer for China, allowing for long-duration missions and the use of space resources. Looking ahead to the next decade and beyond, China is planning on taking even bolder steps to develop its space program.
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