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A DIRE WARNING FOR WASHINGTON FROM THE HEAD OF NASA WEDNESDAY — CHINA IS BOOSTING ITS SPACE CAPABILITIES FOR MILITARY PURPOSES UNDER CIVILIAN COVER.

BILL NELSON
NASA ADMINISTRATOR

“China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years but they are very secretive. We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space program is a military program. In effect, we are in a race.”

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DURING A HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS HEARING, BILL NELSON HIGHLIGHTED LONG-STANDING CONCERNS AMONG NASA OFFICIALS THAT CHINA MAY SEEK TO DOMINATE SPACE — PARTICULARLY THE MOON — POTENTIALLY MARGINALIZING OTHER NATIONS. 

HE UNDERSCORED THE URGENCY FOR THE U.S. TO LAND ON THE MOON BEFORE CHINA TO PRESERVE ITS GLOBAL EDGE WHILE PRESENTING NASA’S PROPOSED $25.4 BILLION BUDGET — WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR JUST UNDER POINT-4-PERCENT OF THE TOTAL 2024 BUDGET.

BILL NELSON
NASA ADMINISTRATOR
“My concern would be if China got there first and suddenly said, ‘Okay, this is our territory, you stay out. That’s not the peaceful uses. There is obviously you don’t want to interfere with each other but don’t go in and declare that this whole territory is suddenly yours. And by the way, anybody that doubts that, look what China’s done in the South China Sea with the Spratly Islands.”

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IN 2019 CHINA BECAME THE FIRST NATION TO SUCCESSFULLY LAND A SPACECRAFT ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON AND PLANS TO COMPLETE ITS FIRST CREWED MOON LANDING BY 2030 AND BUILD A MOON BASE WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

HOWEVER NELSON SUGGESTS CHINA COULD SPEED UP ITS TIMELINE.

BILL NELSON
NASA ADMINISTRATOR
China, for example, has said, and they usually telegraph what they’re going to do, their latest date that they have said that they’re going to land is 2030, but that keeps moving up. So, I think it’s incumbent on us to get there first and to utilize our research efforts for peaceful purposes.”

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CHINA HAS CONSISTENTLY DENIED PLANS TO ESTABLISH A MILITARY PRESENCE IN OUTER SPACE. IN 2021, ITS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS SAID, “SPACE WAR CANNOT BE WON AND MUST NEVER BE FOUGHT.”

RECENT ANALYSIS FROM THE 2023 SPACE THREAT ASSESSMENT SHOWS CHINA SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCED ITS SPACE PROGRAM IN AUGUST 2022 BY LAUNCHING TWO SPACEPLANES—ONE ORBITAL AND ONE SUBORBITAL—SIMILAR TO BOEING’S “X-37 BRAVO.”

THE REPORT ALSO RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CHINA’S USE OF GROUND-BASED LASERS CAPABLE OF DAMAGING OPTICAL SENSORS ON LOW-ALTITUDE SATELLITES, AND NOTES A DOUBLING OF CHINA’S SATELLITE CAPABILITIES IN RECENT YEARS.

US INTELL DESCRIBES CHINA’S SPACE SURVEILLANCE AS ROBUST — INVOLVING A FLEET OF NAVAL SHIPS FOR SPACE-TRACKING AND A NETWORK OF 35 SATELLITES PROVIDING A CHINESE ALTERNATIVE TO GPS.

EARLIER THIS MONTH THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST HIGHLIGHTED CHINA’S PROGRESS IN ELECTROMAGNETIC RAILGUN TECHNOLOGY for future space launches.

MANAGED BY THE CHINA AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY CORPORATION’S FLIGHT VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THIS TECHNOLOGY USES A MASSIVE ELECTROMAGNETIC LAUNCH TRACK TO ACCELERATE A HYPERSONIC AIRCRAFT TO MACH 1.6, WHICH THEN IGNITES ITS ENGINE TO REACH NEAR SPACE AT SEVEN TIMES THE SPEED OF SOUND.

THIS PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY IS NOW REPORTEDLY MORE ADVANCED THAN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC AIRCRAFT LAUNCH SYSTEM ON THE USS FORD — FIRST DEPLOYED IN 2023.