A report by the US has suggested that CHINA could become the space king, overtaking the US.
A Pentagon industrial-base group stated that the secretive state is determined to be the global space power, economically, diplomatically, and militarily, by 2045.
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It could even reach this goal sooner if it continues to invest in huge projects like its own version of ISS and plans for a lunar base.
According to the report, which was written by Air Force Research Laboratory, Defense Innovation Unit and Space Force officials, the US must act quickly if it wants its space lead to be maintained.
“Proactive measures are required to sustain our nation’s space leadership across all instruments of national power despite China’s attempt to accelerate closing its technology gap with the US,”It reads.
China seems to be spending billions on space research in order to fulfill its space dreams.
By 2030, the country will spend $200 billion more per year in research and development than the US.
The report states that China has experienced a significant increase in its GDP. “grand strategy for economic and military dominance in the space domain that extends for decades as a national priority”
It warns that China’s success seeks to “not only shape humanity’s future in space, but a new international order that embraces communism and autocracy here on Earth within the 21st century”.
China National Space Administration (CNSA), China’s equivalent to Nasa has already achieved some major achievements in comparison to the US.
They became the first team to successfully land a lunar rover in 2019
“While the United States space industrial base remains on an upward trajectory, participants expressed concerns that the upward trajectory of the People’s Republic of China (People’s Republic of China (PRC)) is even steeper, with a significant rate of overtake, requiring urgent action,”The report continues.
“The US lacks a clear and cohesive long term vision, a grand strategy for space that sustains economic, technological, environmental, social and military (defense) leadership for the next half century and beyond.”
Nasa boss Bill Nelson has previously said the West should be cautious about China’s space ambitions.
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