Chinese ‘moon bricks’ blast Beijing’s lunar base plan closer to reality
The Australian’s North Asia correspondent was among a select group of foreign reporters who this morning watched China’s space launch, the latest step in Beijing’s plan to build a base on the south pole of the moon which has rattled Washington and its allies.
Three Chinese astronauts have been blasted from earth to China’s Tiangong space station, the latest step in Beijing’s moon base project which has rattled Washington and America’s allies.
The Shenzhou-19 spacecraft set off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in Inner Mongolia in China’s northwest, at 4:27am on Wednesday with all the pomp and ceremony that surrounds the rising superpower’s increasingly ambitious space program.
The Australian was among a select group of foreign reporters allowed to watch the launch, which took place in a remote facility that is also used for the PLA’s missile program and other top secret military projects. Not surprisingly, the small group of foreign reporters were instructed by Chinese government handlers not to go poking around.
Called “Dongfeng” base, the facility in the Gobi Desert is where China developed its ballistic missile capability in the 1960s.
Dongfeng’s contribution to China’s military strength was recently celebrated in party state media to celebrate the site’s 66th anniversary.
“The red blood and loyal genes have always flowed in the hearts of Dongfeng Aerospace people,” the party-controlled Hunan Daily wrote, praising China’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite capabilities in the face of “blockade and strategic deterrence of Western powers”.
China’s rocket capabilities have come a long way since the Mao era, as the country has grown into the world’s second biggest economy. The country’s space program is celebrated in Chinese media as a display of the emerging superpower’s “economic, technological, and comprehensive national strength”.
In a few weeks time, another Chinese rocket — the unmanned Tianzhou-8 — will be blasted from a joint-use facility on China’s southern island of Hainan to send cargo to Tiangong space station. Among its supplies will be a package of what Chinese scientists have called “moon bricks”, which Beijing hopes will allow it to construct a base on the south side of the moon in coming years.
The “moon bricks” were made using simulated lunar soil. Chinese scientists hope they will be able to withstand the moon’s harsh environment where temperatures can range from 180 C during the day to -190 C at night.
After they arrive at the Chinese space station, the three new astronauts — Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze — will conduct research on the “moon bricks”, placing them outside of Tiangong to conduct exposure experiments.
Chinese scientists want to see if similar lunar materials could be used for construction on the moon for everything from roads to structure to power stations, according to state media.
“If that comes true, humans will be able to set up bases that can support longtime robotic operations and short-duration human stays,” Pang Zhihao, an expert on space exploration who worked at the China Academy of Space Technology, told the China Daily.
Chinese space expert Zhang Wei, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told The Australian that Ms Wang and Mr Song, both 34, were young enough to serve in China’s moon base, which could be operational before 2035.
Space has become an increasingly contested theatre in China’s superpower rivalry with America. The head of NASA this year warned that China was using its civilian space program to mask military objectives.
“China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in April
“We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space program is a military program. And I think, in effect, we are in a race,” Nelson said.
Beijing has repeatedly rebuffed American criticism about its intentions in space and said it is Washington that is turning outer space into a “battlefield”.
“China stays committed to the peaceful use of outer space, and opposes arms race in outer space or weaponizing outer space,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said this week.
“China has no intention to engage in a race with other countries in space and doesn’t seek to gain an edge in space,” Mr Lin added.
Beijing’s critics need only point to the command structure of its space agency. The China Manned Space Program, or “Project 921”, sits under the Central Military Commission, China’s top military authority, which is chaired by President Xi Jinping.
Beijing’s choice of space partners has only amplified America’s concerns. In 2021, China and Russia jointly announced their plans to construct a base near the moon’s south pole. A host of countries, mostly recipients of Chinese Belt and Road projects, have since announced their interest in working with China and Russia on the base.
The Sino-Russian led moon base was announced after America in 2017 revealed its Artemis program, which also aims for a south pole lunar base. NASA plans to use that moon base as a stepping stone for a mission to Mars, the most audacious space mission since the first moon landing.
Washington has also campaigned for its vision of the future of space exploration with its “Artemis Accords”, which outlines the norms America is championing for outer space. Australia was one of its founding signatories, which as of Chile’s signing this week includes 47 countries.
The rival moon bases look set to export the era’s geopolitical tensions to the moon.
For now, China is still working towards a moon landing. Chinese space officials said at a briefing on Tuesday that they were “comprehensively advancing” and would achieve the feat before 2030, six decades after NASA.
“We’ll make the Chinese People’s dream of landing on the moon a reality in the near future,” said Lin Xiqiang, the deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency.
Beijing recently released a plan for space science development that declared China’s plans to become a “global space science power” by 2050. While still lagging America, China has surprised many with the pace of its technological catch up.
During the Trump and Biden administrations, America has responded with its own increasingly ambitious plans for space development, which have been aided by its private aerospace giants, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
As well as their “moon brick” experiments, the three new astronauts will, during their half-year in the space station, feature regularly on state media programming, including CCTV’s flagship Chinese New Year’s Gala. The incoming trio will also beam into Chinese schools classrooms where they have been woven into the “patriotic education” drive, including in Hong Kong.
Ms Wang, currently the only female space flight engineer in China, already has a growing fanbase after she was announced as one of the new trio on Tuesday. Speaking to the media from behind a plexi-glass cover to protect the astronauts from germs taking any colds or bugs to space, she said diligence and thoughtful training were the key ingredients to her selection for the mission.
“As an aerospace professional, I never thought that I would become an astronaut some day. This is so valuable and also so cool,” she said.
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