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China to win space race unless NASA funding changes, US told
China has the opportunity in coming years to surpass the US in space programs, forcing the US government to step up NASA funding to retain a leadership position, enter partnerships with the Chinese or risk falling behind, space policy experts say.
China launched its first astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space a decade ago. Since then, it has made steady progress, from conducting space walks to launching a small laboratory. By 2020, China plans to complete construction of its own space station.
While that may seem modest compared with NASA's overall accomplishments, they signal an ambitious program that is advancing rather than regressing, space experts say.
In a widely read article in Foreign Policy magazine earlier this year, Berry College international studies professor John Hickman argued that today's achievements are setting the stage for China to be the dominant force in space exploration a decade from now.
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Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the International Space Station, says critics who dismiss China's advancements as ''been there, done that'' are missing the point.
''It really makes me cringe when you have people dismiss what they're doing by saying they're only doing what we did 50 years ago,'' Dr Chiao said. ''We can't go to the moon right now. We can't even launch our own astronauts right now. We do have plans but everyone knows the budgets we have in this country don't support those space flight plans.''
In 2011 and last year, China conducted four launches of commercial satellites into space, whereas the US performed just two.
Two of the most critical questions about China's space program concern the extent to which NASA will be allowed, in coming years, to have partnerships with China and whether future Chinese gains in space will prod the US to invest more in its own program.
Under US law, NASA is prohibited from working with China's space program and other US regulations prevent any satellite that includes US-made components launching on Chinese rockets.
The chief obstacle to NASA collaboration with China is Virginia Republican congressman Frank Wolf, who chairs the House subcommittee overseeing NASA's budget. Mr Wolf's opposition is linked to China's human rights violations.
But other countries, including Russia and NASA's European partners in the International Space Station, have expressed a willingness to work with China. And it appears likely that astronauts from Russia and Europe will fly to China's station in the 2020s.
Dr Chiao said he is concerned about a scenario in which the US stops flying its space station in 2020 and the international partners transfer their funds and support to the Chinese station. The US could then find itself locked out of space exploration while the world's other major powers are working and co-operating in space.
''If we can work with the Russians, who were our sworn enemies during the Cold War, why can't we work with the Chinese?'' Dr Chiao said.
There is also the question of whether Chinese ambitions in space might push US legislators to give NASA a budget that allows it to meet greater space flight challenges.
''China plans to put their men on the moon in 2025,'' said Michio Kaku, a City University of New York physicist. ''For America, that's going to be a shock.
''We're going to have another Sputnik moment when the Chinese put the flag on the moon.''
However, when NASA has played the China card in the past to drum up more funding, it hasn't worked.
Mike Griffin, the space agency's administrator from 2005 to 2009, used to invoke the possibility of Chinese moon landings when seeking congressional support to fund the Constellation Program, which would have returned NASA astronauts to the moon.
US President Barack Obama cancelled Constellation in 2010.
China has the opportunity in coming years to surpass the US in space programs, forcing the US government to step up NASA funding to retain a leadership position, enter partnerships with the Chinese or risk falling behind, space policy experts say.
China launched its first astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space a decade ago. Since then, it has made steady progress, from conducting space walks to launching a small laboratory. By 2020, China plans to complete construction of its own space station.
While that may seem modest compared with NASA's overall accomplishments, they signal an ambitious program that is advancing rather than regressing, space experts say.
In a widely read article in Foreign Policy magazine earlier this year, Berry College international studies professor John Hickman argued that today's achievements are setting the stage for China to be the dominant force in space exploration a decade from now.
Advertisement
Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the International Space Station, says critics who dismiss China's advancements as ''been there, done that'' are missing the point.
''It really makes me cringe when you have people dismiss what they're doing by saying they're only doing what we did 50 years ago,'' Dr Chiao said. ''We can't go to the moon right now. We can't even launch our own astronauts right now. We do have plans but everyone knows the budgets we have in this country don't support those space flight plans.''
In 2011 and last year, China conducted four launches of commercial satellites into space, whereas the US performed just two.
Two of the most critical questions about China's space program concern the extent to which NASA will be allowed, in coming years, to have partnerships with China and whether future Chinese gains in space will prod the US to invest more in its own program.
Under US law, NASA is prohibited from working with China's space program and other US regulations prevent any satellite that includes US-made components launching on Chinese rockets.
The chief obstacle to NASA collaboration with China is Virginia Republican congressman Frank Wolf, who chairs the House subcommittee overseeing NASA's budget. Mr Wolf's opposition is linked to China's human rights violations.
But other countries, including Russia and NASA's European partners in the International Space Station, have expressed a willingness to work with China. And it appears likely that astronauts from Russia and Europe will fly to China's station in the 2020s.
Dr Chiao said he is concerned about a scenario in which the US stops flying its space station in 2020 and the international partners transfer their funds and support to the Chinese station. The US could then find itself locked out of space exploration while the world's other major powers are working and co-operating in space.
''If we can work with the Russians, who were our sworn enemies during the Cold War, why can't we work with the Chinese?'' Dr Chiao said.
There is also the question of whether Chinese ambitions in space might push US legislators to give NASA a budget that allows it to meet greater space flight challenges.
''China plans to put their men on the moon in 2025,'' said Michio Kaku, a City University of New York physicist. ''For America, that's going to be a shock.
''We're going to have another Sputnik moment when the Chinese put the flag on the moon.''
However, when NASA has played the China card in the past to drum up more funding, it hasn't worked.
Mike Griffin, the space agency's administrator from 2005 to 2009, used to invoke the possibility of Chinese moon landings when seeking congressional support to fund the Constellation Program, which would have returned NASA astronauts to the moon.
US President Barack Obama cancelled Constellation in 2010.
