China

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Joint Air Power Competence Centre, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Arctic Space Challenge for NATO Emerging from China’s Economic and Financial Assertiveness”, originally published in the Joint Air Power Competence Centre Journal 30. 

Join SpaceWatch.Global for an interesting and informative Space Café WebTalk featuring Dr. Bhavya Lal, Researcher at IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute.  This event will take place on 29 September 2020 at 4:00 pm CEST.

China's secretive reusable spacecraft back to landing site

It is an exciting time for space enthusiasts, particularly those who aim for economic development of the Moon. The Moon is awash in new flights, plans, and missions over the next decade – and very likely, far beyond that. A recent graphic by the ESA (below) captures the significant number of missions to the Moon coming more than the institutional or traditional governmental side.

August 2020 sure proved that a lot of private capital can flow into the space sector, with a total of US$2.2 billion. Sure, SpaceX represented over 80% of this total – the company’s latest filing shows $1.9 billion raised of a potential total of $2.066 billion – but even without it, the sector total would have come to almost $400 million, distributed across geographies and subsectors.

As we near the 2/3 point for the year 2020, it is starting to feel like a “lost year” for some. With many people having been working from home for the majority of the year, with borders largely closed, and with governments in turmoil, many are starting to ask whether 2020 can just be over already. Reasonable sentiment, to be sure.

In all, 102 individuals from 15 countries completed the survey. Responses point to a chasm between current and developing military and security practice, on the one side, and established safety and sustainability norms of activity in space, on the other

As orbital traffic continues to expand and flourish, on-orbit sustainability efforts must also evolve. On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) possesses the power to renovate degrading space assets and advance space sustainability through in-space manufacturing, orbit modification, refurbishment, and resource replenishment.

Serbia and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on space technology cooperation on 5 June 2020. The MoU includes a provision for the joint development of a Sino-Serbian satellite.

In separate media appearances last week, Russian and Chinese diplomatic and military officials have criticised US – and allied – military space programmes and ambitions.