US Prepares For Space War As China Plans ‘Boots On The Moon’ By 2030

ANALYSIS – China has just announced that it plans to land its version of astronauts ‘taikonauts’ on the moon by 2030. This would be a first for any country other than the United States, which last sent men to the moon on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Along with China’s other impressive space developments, this lunar goal is also pushing the U.S. and China closer to war in space.

China is increasingly posing a threat to the vital U.S. satellites the Pentagon relies on for almost everything.

In 2021 China launched a satellite with a robotic arm – Shijian-17, or SJ-17 – capable of grabbing other satellites and has developed a way to place explosives in their thruster nozzles.

The explosives are designed to go undetected for long periods and, when detonated, resemble an engine malfunction.

In 2019 President Trump announced that the U.S. would have boots on the moon again by 2024. This mission will use NASA’s massive Artemis rocket. 

Unfortunately, that timeline has already slipped, and NASA has outlined plans to land a crewed mission on the moon by 2025.

But even that timeline has been imperiled by the ongoing budget debate.

If things keep slipping, NASA and CMSA may end up in a close race to the lunar surface. Or China may end up having boots on the moon before the United States.

“It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told Politico earlier this year.

Meanwhile, China is developing a next-generation rocket to launch an upgraded crew spacecraft while work is also underway on a lunar lander.

Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), said at a news conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Monday that the nation’s space authorities have launched the crewed lunar program.

“The overall goals are to realize China’s first manned landing on the moon before 2030,” Lin said.

“Our astronauts will walk on the Moon, collect samples around the landing site and perform in situ research,” Lin told China Daily.

The crewed landing plan noted by Lin is for two astronauts to conduct a six-hour stay on the lunar surface, with another crew member remaining aboard a service module in lunar orbit.

Previously only referred to as the “921 rocket” or “Long March 10,” China’s upcoming super-heavy lifter has finally received its official name – the Chang Zheng 10. CMSA expects the rocket to make its first test flight in 2027.

China and Russia are also planning to collaborate to build a research station on the Moon. Their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) would be built in the 2030s. It will initially be robotic then made suitable for long-term manned habitation.

In 2022 China also completed the construction of its space station. The Tiangong (Palace in the Sky) will link up with Beijing’s planned Xuntian space telescope and host experiments in orbit.

In January 2019, China’s Chang’e 4 lunar mission, named after the mythical moon goddess, landed in the Aitken Basin of the Moon’s south pole. This was the first spacecraft ever to land on the far side (dark side) of the Moon.

The mission is conducting various experiments and looking for radio emissions normally blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Though, some analysts fear the mission could have a military dimension no one can see.

China’s aggressive space and lunar plans have American military brass preparing for a fight. “The United States of America is ready to fight tonight in space if we have to,” Brigadier General Jesse Morehouse of the U.S. Space Command said at a briefing Thursday, The Guardian reported.

Morehouse added that threats posed by Russian aggression and China’s goal of becoming the dominant power in space had left the U.S. with “no choice” but to prepare for possible conflict in space.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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