Mikhail Kotov — about the features of the "Chinese space" and the interaction between Russia and China
The Russian government has approved a bill providing for the ratification of an agreement with China on the establishment of a joint International scientific lunar Station (MNLS).
In the last few years alone, China has implemented so many successful missions in space that they would be enough for several countries. Since the 1990s, the People's Republic of China has been gradually increasing its space capabilities. Even a simple enumeration of them looks very, very impressive, not to mention China's buildup of a grouping of Earth remote sensing satellites. But this is a separate topic for a large article. Today we will touch only on what is directly related to one of the most important tasks of the Chinese program, the manned lunar mission.
Manned program
Having the opportunity to study the experience of the USSR and the United States, China has nevertheless gone a long way in three decades. The development of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft began in 1992, in 1999 the first (test) flight was carried out using the Changzheng-2F launch vehicle, the dispatch of the first taikonaut Yang Liwei took place in 2003 on the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft. To date, 17 manned launches have already been made.
In 2011, the first Chinese single-module station Tiangong-1 was launched, an ideological analogue of the Soviet Salyut. In 2016, Tiangong-2 entered orbit, and since 2021, the multi-module national Tiangong station has been operating in space. In fact, since 1992, China has gone the same way as the USSR to the Mir station (from 1961 to 1986 — from the beginning of the manned program), as well as the United States to the ISS as the first multimodule station (from 1961 to 1998).
Of course, if we compare it with the world race of the first years of the development of cosmonautics, it does not look so impressive and fast. For example, the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft was developed in five years — from the beginning of creation to the start of flights with astronauts, and Vostok even faster — it took about three years. But this is also the peculiarity of Chinese development: in accordance with the plan, calmly and without serious strain on the economy.
Currently, China plans to create a new generation manned spacecraft, which in February was named Mengzhou — the "Dream Shuttle", and launch additional modules for the orbital station, including a telescope module.
The Interplanetary program
Over the past years, China has very clearly verified almost all the competencies required for manned lunar exploration. The only Martian mission stands apart. In 2020, the first ever Chinese Mars rover, Zhuzhong, was sent to the Red Planet. On May 14, 2021, it made a soft landing on the Utopia Plain, becoming the first non-American rover to operate on the surface of this planet. By May 7, 2022, Zhuzhong had worked for 349 sols (a Martian day is about 24 hours and 39 minutes), having traveled about 1,921 m and transmitted 940 GB of various scientific data.
Most of the Chinese interplanetary missions are focused on the Moon. This is a large, serious multi-stage program, the development of which was launched in 1998 by the Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for Defense (COSTIND) of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The program was approved in January 2004, and in February it was named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e.
To date, five missions have been completed under this program, as a result of which:
- operation in lunar orbit has been tested;
- a soft landing on the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth has been worked out;
- work has been carried out with the control of lunar rovers;
- A three-dimensional topographic map of the Moon has been constructed;
- regolith (a surface layer of loose soil) was delivered from the Moon to the Earth;
- The first automatic docking in lunar orbit in the history of mankind was carried out (as part of the Chang 'e-5 mission).
There are no "empty" or repeated missions in the Chinese program, each has its own clear reasons and objectives. Currently, preparations are underway for Chang'e-6, which is supposed to land near the south pole of the Moon, take soil samples and deliver them to Earth. This is the fourth phase of research on the natural satellite of our planet. It also includes the beginning of the construction of the very lunar automatic station, which Russia is planning to participate in.
Infrastructure
In terms of infrastructure, it is worth admitting that China currently has no equal. There are four cosmodromes in the country: Jiuquan, Xichang, Taiyuan (on the mainland) and Wenchang (on Hainan Island). By 2025-2026, it is planned to build another spaceport in the Xiangshan County of Ningbo city — it will be possible to carry out up to 100 commercial launches per year from it. The sea launch platforms operating in the waters of the Yellow Sea at the Vostochny Aerospace Port complex are also actively used — at least three types of such vessels are known.
Separately, it is worth noting the construction by China of seven Yuanwan space flight and ballistic missile tracking vessels — four vessels of this project are already in operation.
As for the space infrastructure for lunar missions, Qiuecao, a Chinese artificial satellite serving as a communications repeater, was launched on May 20, 2018 and began its work in December. On March 22, 2024, China sent another similar repeater, the Quqiao-2. It is expected to provide communication with Earth for three future lunar missions: Chang'e-6 (delivery of soil from the far side of the Moon), Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 (exploration of the southern polar zone of the Moon).
Synergy
All these individual achievements are only part of the preparation of Chinese cosmonautics for the successful exploration of the Moon in the future. Each of the components serves a common purpose — to make a manned flight to the Moon not at the expense of one sharp and expensive jerk, but as part of an existing system. I think we can say that Chinese cosmonautics is the most systematic of all currently existing ones.
Another such "brick" for future achievements should be the creation of an International scientific lunar Station — a project of Russia and China in the company of Azerbaijan, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, South Africa. For our country, this is an opportunity to strengthen its competence in the construction of interplanetary space stations and modules; the potential to strengthen ties between states with the prospect of continuing work in other space projects.
In addition, Russian specialists in such close cooperation can learn from their Chinese colleagues the experience of the very consistency and precision of the space program — in which there are practically no unnecessary elements, and each mission is largely aimed at supporting further expeditions and launches.
According to the roadmap of the MNLS project, the construction of the base will take place in five stages. The first is the construction of a command center, energy and communication infrastructure. Here, Russia's role will primarily be to launch its Luna-26 and Luna-27 space projects. They will be linked into a single program together with the Chinese expeditions Chang'e-6 and Chang'e-7. The other four stages are mainly tied to conducting scientific experiments, collecting samples and studying them on site, right on the Moon. As a result, the MNLS should become a scientific center that combines exploration, production, processing, and the study of a wide variety of samples of lunar soil and meteorites from the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.
There are no analogues of such a project, so it is difficult to talk about how the countries will divide the work on the project among themselves, but judging by the planned volumes, no one will be left idle. More data on what competencies and capabilities of the Russian Federation will be used, as well as on financing, should be expected after the ratification of the agreement and more detailed development of the program.
In my opinion, the International Scientific Lunar Station can become the most important space project of the XXI century, and we cannot miss participation in it in any way.