Opinion | Tiangong : Isolation has failed, time for real international cooperations

By Alan Leung, Blogger specialized in current affairs

China began its manned space program Project 921 in 1992 and originally wanted to join the International Space Station (ISS) partnership despite having its own manned space programs, but at the time the ISS was being designed and constructed, many doubted China's ability to manufacture and maintain space-worthy capsules. China continued to show its desire to join the program as it developed the necessary technology and proved its ability. In 2010, the European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain stated his agency was ready to propose to the other 4 partners that China would be invited to join the partnership, but this needs the collective decision by all the current partners.

While the ESA was open to China's inclusion, the US was against it because they feared and were suspicious of Chinese development in space. All hope was lost in 2011, when the US effectively blocked all paths of China from joining the ISS when the US Congress passed the "Wolf Amendment" which strengthened China's determination to build its own space station. The Wolf Amendment prohibited NASA from engaging in direct or bilateral co-operation with the Chinese government and China-affiliated organizations from its activities without explicit authorization from the FBI and the US Congress.

After many years of hard work the first Chinese astronauts finally entered the country's Tiangong space station last Thursday, which will become their home for the next three months. Tiangong means the heavenly palace, the mythical palace of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, in Chinese traditional culture and mythology, marking a milestone and starting a new chapter in Chinese manned space programs. The station success is a matter of great prestige in China, as Beijing prepares for the celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The Chinese manned space program Project 921 had seven sub-phases (921-1, 921-2 ... 921-7). In phase one, the Project 921-1 Shenzhou program successfully completed the first Chinese crewed spaceflight with Russian assistance and then independently developed and launched its first temporary space station, the Tiangong-1 space laboratory, in phase two, Project 921-2, on 29 September 2011. The program entered phase 3, Project 921-3 permanent space station program, when China launched the Tiangong space station core module, the Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens"), on 29 April 2021, which is expected to be completed by late-2022 and have the station first long-duration crews delivered by mid-2023.

Tiangong will become the largest infrastructure built and maintained by a single country when it is completed next year and is expected to be the only space station operating in near-Earth orbit by the end of the decade, becoming the future beacon of the Chinese manned space program. It will have a total mass of about 100 tonnes, about a quarter of the size of the aging ISS built by a coalition of 16 countries. The ISS is 15 years old already and Russia has already announced on Monday that it would quit the project in 2025, astronauts have been spending more time finding and patching holes in the space station than doing experiments.

The success of the Tiangong has already achieved major technical advancements when compared to the ISS, which includes cutting-edge space technology developed for the station such as materials, robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as better solar energy generation, faster docking, advanced water recycling system, advance ion drives that have never before been deployed for a manned spacecraft which could help pave the way for the propulsion system uses in future manned missions and a planned more efficient space telescope with a view 300 times larger than NASA's Hubble.

The Tiangong have an expected life span of about 10 to 20 years, but may most likely operate for much longer as it is smaller and is more modular than the ISS. The removable modules design makes it easier to replace modules when they are no longer repairable and when upgrades or expansion are needed. We need to also consider the quality and stability record of products from the Chinese space programs, such as the Yutu 1 moon rover operated for over two and a half years when it was originally planned to only operate for 3 months, as well as the Yutu 2 moon rover that is still roaming around the moon two years after it landing and over 800 days after it expected life expectancy.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has already sent an invitation to all members of the UN to conduct experiments on the Tiangong space station and several countries have already been confirmed to conduct experiments, and even build modules for Chinese station, these countries include Russia, Italy, Japan, as well as developing countries like Kenya. According to reports from the People's Daily, at least three European astronauts from Germany, France and Italy are training with the CNSA and are expected to join in missions to the Chinese space station from next year, while the ESA has also said that three of young colleagues from Germany, France and Italy has been learning Mandarin and training at the CNSA since 2018.

As the Tiangong is on track China has already prepared for its next goal, as China and Russia unveiled a detailed plan of their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) for a joint research station on the moon scheduled to be completed by 2035 and have invited other countries to join the program, reviving the international space race three decades after the Cold War as it competes with the US-led Artemis space program, which also includes an Artemis Base Camp on the moon and is open to international participation. The ILRS is planned to have at least five structures and comprehensive facilities at one or more locations on the moon's surface and its orbit.

From being barred from the ISS program to independently building a space station of their own in ten short years, while gaining the technical strength and capability to plan and build a base on Moon by 2035, which is less than 15 years, is a great accomplishment. Facts have proven that trying to isolate or shut out China from space or basically in anything simply does not work, China will only become more focused on overcoming the barriers and will always come back stronger. That's exactly what happened in space, super computing, communication…etc. and is going to happen with the Chinese semiconductor industry, sooner than all the pundits think.

Nonetheless, China needs to avoid getting itself dragged into western mindset of a space race and continue completing its target one by one steadily and firmly, and cautiously, despite all the hyper on western media. As the ISS gets decommissioned, China should consider expanding the Tiangong and allowing the international community to attach an independent international section of modules to the station to take over the role of the ISS and truly develop the Tiangong into a Chinese led international partnership. It's time for the West to drop its prejudice and sense of superiority, and treat China as an equal, only then can real international cooperation be established, bring human space exploration further and faster.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.