China space exploration commercial missions are the new challenge and in last few years we have seen more and more commercial space missions. More and more privately founded missions are in place with different plans and destinations. For instance, Google started a Lunar XPrize Race, in order to found private companies for a Moon mission. This competition is open for all teams all over the world. GLXP will result in a mission that will land a spacecraft on the Moon surface, take high resolution photos and beam them back to Earth. People from all over the world join together in order to get the founding, and they show some great results.
Elon Musk is still not giving up on a hope to send people to Mars. This is perhaps the most important private space program of our time. SpaceX owner is pouring billions of dollars in order to complete Falcon 9 rocket program. As they claim, Falcon 9 rocket will lower the price of space travel by half, thanks to reusable Stage 1 technology. Also, the development of Falcon 9 will help scientist to solve human landing on Mars problem.
China space exploration commercial missions
In the meantime, while SpaceX brings together NASA and ESA in order to fly people to Mars, China has plans of their own. Recently China started the first commercial mission to space. China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation organized the launch of KZ-1A rocket carrying three commercial satellites. The satellites are launched in low-orbit and will be used for communication and environmental surveillance. It’s not usual for China to launch commercial missions so this is a clear signal that there is a new force in space exploration game.
After the success of Tiangong 2 mission, China plans to launch Tiangong 3 in 2024. This space module will allow China to send a crew of three into space for 40 days. China has plans to finish the construction of their space station before 2030. If all these plans go through, China space exploration commercial missions game will be set on. More than that, the world will have one more team member for international space cooperation and collaboration.
Russia is planning to build a Moon base and send people there, to stay. They have announced their plans to finish the base by 2024 and send people there by 2030. Roscosmos is already performing simulations for human habitation on the Moon. In order to complete the base they will launch 6 separate missions, using Angara rocket. When the base is complete, the crew of four astronauts will go to the Moon base and prepare it for more people. Russia plans to have 12 people on the Moon base
With so many private and public companies rushing to reach into space, the future of space exploration is secure. Competition in space travel is a good thing, because it’s a common goal research other planets and life beyond Earth. Many times before, we’ve seen the cooperation of Russian and USA space agencies. NASA and ESA are working together on so many projects, including sending people to Mars.
So what can we expect in the future? Could it be possible that people will live on the Moon, work there and gather lunar resources? Will SpaceX send people to Mars and return them safely? What scientific break-troughs will China space station deliver? Is the outer space that important?
Many people would argue that we are spending billions in order to send people into space, where they find nothing. We have probes and satellites over distant planets and still we found no sign of life, no answers, only more questions. So is it all worth it? With children starving, and so many sick and living in inhuman conditions is a Moon base the most important thing?
Space cost money, but it also ask for constant improvements. In order to reach deeper into space we need better technology, we need more investments and development. This means more jobs, more scientist working together, researching new tech and engineering processes. We can’t cure all people, we can’t stop the poverty, not at once. But we can develop a better world, improve science and thus make life on Earth better.
So when NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, CNSA or any other space agency says that it’s planning new missions, it’s not the waste of resources. It’s an investment into a better future for us all. So many products that we use today are developed for space. So many health care solutions are the result of space agencies trying to improve medical efficiency. And more than that, learning about new worlds will help us understand our world better than we do it now. We don’t need to find life on other planets, we could learn how to sustain it. We could learn how to make Mars habitable, how to travel faster, how to consume resources with better efficiency. We will eventually create a better world.
