Star wars: how China is threatening to blast ahead of the US in the space race

NASA LAY-OFFS AND CHINESE AMBITION ARE CHANGING THE SPACE POWER BALANCE, WRITES CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER

- CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER

For the past 60 years, when you've looked up into space, you've been more likely than not to see American-made technology looking back at you. Nasa, the United States' space exploration agency, helped put men on the Moon, around it, improve our vision of the skies and our understanding of the cosmos.

But for the next generation of space-mad youngsters, much of the heavy lifting - and the hard yards - could be done by Chinese astronauts.

The country has reportedly just pulled off the world’s first refuelling of satellites within orbit, according to a US space observation company that has been tracking the routes of the Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 satellites. In late May, it launched its Tianwen-2 mission, which aims to land a vessel on a moving asteroid, collect samples and return them to Earth - something analysts believe could be a precursor to a Moon mission.

And the Tianwen-3 mission, due to lift off in 2028 and return to our planet in 2031, already has its mission outlined: to head to Mars, collect samples and fly back.

Where once the United States was charting the course in space, it now seems China is equalling - if not outstripping - its rival.

"China is moving exceptionally fast, and the means by which they are doing that are different as well," says Sara Webb, a lecturer at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.