China hopes to pique public interest in space tourism by making its soon-to-be-completed space station available to the general public.
Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut in space in 2003, told Chinese media earlier this month that persons without official astronaut training may soon visit the Tiangong space station.
When asked if the general public will be allowed to explore Tiangong, Yang replied, “It is not an issue of technology, but of demand.” “And, if there is sufficient demand, it can be accomplished within a decade.”
Yang was addressing as a member of China’s continuing annual political sessions in Beijing, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Zhou Jianping, the main designer of China’s human spaceflight programme, subsequently claimed the country’s Shenzhou crew spacecraft might be used for space tourism, lending credence to the remarks.
Taken together, the statements imply that China is attempting to develop a market for space tourism.
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But first, China must finish and operationalize the three-module, T-shaped space station. This year, China intends to send six missions to complete Tiangong. These will be the launches of two new modules, Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15, as well as two cargo supply missions and two crewed missions.
The two three-person missions are also slated to carry out the first crew handover, which will see six astronauts temporarily stationed on the space station.
However, the Shenzhou spacecraft, which will launch from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert on a proven Long March 2F rocket, will not be the sole option for transporting passengers into space.
According to Space.com, China is developing a reusable rocket for human spaceflight that would be capable of launching a new, bigger, and largely reusable crew spacecraft to the space station. The new method would allow more individuals to go to space at the same time.
Whereas the Shenzhou spacecraft can only carry three astronauts, the new generation of crewed space transportation vehicles will be able to carry six to seven astronauts, according to Huang Kewu, a human spaceflight official with China’s main space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, last year.
Commercial alternatives are also being considered. CAS Space, a commercial offshoot of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), plans to provide tourist journeys to space as early as 2025, citing Blue Origin as inspiration.
Meanwhile, Space Transportation is designing a “rocket with wings” for space tourism and point-to-point travel, with a maiden suborbital flight scheduled for 2025. Orbital flights are scheduled to begin around 2030.
Last year, Wu Ji, a researcher at the CAS’s National Space Science Center, told the Beijing Review that he thought Chinese enterprises will be able to compete in the worldwide space tourism industry. “Commercial programs may help reduce costs and boost the efficacy of space operations, which would benefit traditional participants in this sector,” Wu added.
China’s first space-tourism planes may not take off for a few years, but the government appears to be committed to providing several means for visitors to reach space.
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