The Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST)dependent on the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)announced that in the coming years, the chinese space station will double in size and will have a useful life of more than 15 years.
The current site has three modules, and the objective is reach doubleoffering to the astronauts from other countries an alternative platform for near-Earth missions. It is no small fact that the NASA-led ISS is approaching the end of useful life after 10 years.
What is the Chinese space station like?
The Chinese-built space station, also known as Tiangong (Celestial Palace in Chinese), began operating at the end of 2022, with a maximum capacity of three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 kilometers.
With a weight of 180 tons metrics after its expansion, represents only the 40% of the mass of the US ISSwhich can accommodate a crew of up to seven astronauts. However, as the ISS will be dismantled in the coming years, China awaits that moment to become a “great space power“.
Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) He assured that he did not have budgetary or political approval to participate in Tiangong, thus ruling out the visit of European astronauts to the Chinese station.
On the other hand, US legislation prohibits any collaborationdirect or indirect, of the CMSA with the POTso it should be modified to approve the use of the new ISS.
For its part, Russia suggested that the partners of Moscow in it BRICS group could build a module for your space station. Additionally, the Russian space agency stated that it planned build your own space station composed of six modules that could house up to four cosmonautsthus joining the space competition.
Source: Ambito
