Chinese Manned Space Programme
Discussion
This morning (our time) the Chinese launched three taikonauts to their new space station for a three month stay in which they will oversee the setting up and expansion of this new station. This is the Chinese's third space station but this will be a much more long term programme compared to the previous stations - which were effectively engineering prototypes.
Over the next few years the station will expand in size as additional modules dock and eventually it will be at least as big as the old Soviet era Mir space station. The Chinese are also looking for other countries to join them in this and future projects - possibly the Russians being their most likely partners.
Over the next few years the station will expand in size as additional modules dock and eventually it will be at least as big as the old Soviet era Mir space station. The Chinese are also looking for other countries to join them in this and future projects - possibly the Russians being their most likely partners.
Aren’t space stations going to be a bit old news quite soon? As soon as Musk gets Starship into orbit, with one launch he has achieved ~85% of the pressurised volume of the ISS. I would imagine that space stations will rapidly become parking structures for Starship sized vehicles - a pressurised corridor that allows occupants to move between ships without getting dressed up.
rxe said:
Aren’t space stations going to be a bit old news quite soon? As soon as Musk gets Starship into orbit, with one launch he has achieved ~85% of the pressurised volume of the ISS. I would imagine that space stations will rapidly become parking structures for Starship sized vehicles - a pressurised corridor that allows occupants to move between ships without getting dressed up.
Space stations are here to stay. They'll come in all shapes and sizes and used for all sorts of tasks. At the moment, they are still pretty rare - there is only one other space station in operation so for the next few years, the ISS and this one will be the only space stations there are.I don’t think Bigelow Aerospace are doing a whole lot of anything right now. They laid off all their staff last year and are suing NASA about something currently. They may be back one day though. The owner, Robert Bigelow, is rather wealthy.
Axiom Space on the other hand have plans for their own space station / space hotel eventually, but I expect they’re waiting on Starship to become viable for that. In the meantime they want to add their own modules to the ISS. They already have a space tourism deal with SpaceX for 4 crew dragon flights to the ISS. These will take up 4 people at a time for an 8 day stay on the ISS. The first one of these is scheduled to be next January. Tom Cruise’s ISS visit will be via Axiom and SpaceX.
Im sure NASA have now fully accepted the commercial possibilities and aren’t completely snotty about it like they were with Dennis Tito 20 years ago. Apparently when he and his two Russian crew mates turned up in Houston for some ISS training on the US section, NASA basically told them to bugger off.
Axiom Space on the other hand have plans for their own space station / space hotel eventually, but I expect they’re waiting on Starship to become viable for that. In the meantime they want to add their own modules to the ISS. They already have a space tourism deal with SpaceX for 4 crew dragon flights to the ISS. These will take up 4 people at a time for an 8 day stay on the ISS. The first one of these is scheduled to be next January. Tom Cruise’s ISS visit will be via Axiom and SpaceX.
Im sure NASA have now fully accepted the commercial possibilities and aren’t completely snotty about it like they were with Dennis Tito 20 years ago. Apparently when he and his two Russian crew mates turned up in Houston for some ISS training on the US section, NASA basically told them to bugger off.
Eric Mc said:
Space stations are here to stay. They'll come in all shapes and sizes and used for all sorts of tasks. At the moment, they are still pretty rare - there is only one other space station in operation so for the next few years, the ISS and this one will be the only space stations there are.
I meant the “fly a load of expensive clobber up there as some scientific endeavour” space station. Or in the case of the Chinese, there’s a strong streak of national pride driving it. Isn’t having a few blokes in low Earth orbit going to become a bit “yeah, whatever” within a decade?I think the future of space-stations will largely depend on the debris cloud that is building up in orbit and the potential for a Kessler effect/syndrome, in which one piece of debris (or a collision of satellites) sets of a chain reaction of collisions with other objects in orbit, filling much of orbital space with small/medium but highly damaging debris cloud.
If this can be avoided and the transition and placement of orbital craft is safe then space-stations will always serve a useful scientific function for research, or possibly as a supply stop for more extravagant missions further afield.
If this can be avoided and the transition and placement of orbital craft is safe then space-stations will always serve a useful scientific function for research, or possibly as a supply stop for more extravagant missions further afield.
Exactly.
And as the Chinese were blocked from involvement in the ISS, they felt they needed to have a station of their own. They have their own manned spaceflight ambitions beyond low earth orbit too so if they want to build up long term spaceflight experience, they need to be doing what the US, Russia and Europe have been doing.
And as the Chinese were blocked from involvement in the ISS, they felt they needed to have a station of their own. They have their own manned spaceflight ambitions beyond low earth orbit too so if they want to build up long term spaceflight experience, they need to be doing what the US, Russia and Europe have been doing.
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