Civilian Space Policy and Applications - Report Example

Rocket Science The China National Space Administration is the main body man d to carry out space programs by the People’s Republic of China. This aerospace body traces its beginnings as early as the 1950s in which this Asian nation started basic ballistic rocket launches. This was viewed as a retaliatory strategy towards America and later the United Society Soviet Union who were posing endless threats. The initial crew flight by the Chinese space agency began after a few decades later following an upsurge in technological advancement. The hallmark of this realization ushered from the success story of Yang Liwei’s 2003 flight aboard Shenzhou 5. Following this success story by the China National Space Administration, China became the third nation to autonomously send man into space. Subsequently, China has developed plans of setting up a stable space station in 2020 as well as crewed missions to planet Mars and the Lunar orbit (Harvey, Smid and Pirard 328). The historical onset of space programs in China began during the Korean War where the United States of America decided to employ the use o nuclear weapons. The then chairman of the Chinese, Mao Zedong suggested that the only strategy to ensure security in the newly founded state was to use nuclear energy. Furthermore, his comments were perceived to be of the point that china should gain ranks amongst the world super powers. In 1956, the Fifth Academy of the National Defense Ministry began the advancement in the pioneer ballistic missile strategy. This idea was fully adopted and was referred to as the twelve year plan for Chinese aerospace. In the year 1958, China under the leadership of Mao, adopted the Project 581 in order to achieve equal status with other super powers. The sole aim of this adoption was to enable china position satellite in the orbital space. This particular goal was laid out in three phases including, building up rockets, launching minute protectorates and later bigger satellites. China built its first ever missile test base, named Base-20 in April 1958 and operations began on October 20. As part of capacity building and training of the newly oriented aerospace students, China engaged in cordial cooperative ties with the soviet. Under this venture, Chinese students would gain immense knowledge and hands-on training using sample r-2missile rockets. In the same year, Chinese were able to devise its pioneer missile rocket. A reverse engineered replica of the Soviet’s short range ballistic missile, this particular object was powered by either alcohol or oxygen. Additionally, it had a range of 590 kilometers in size and weighed 20.5 tonnes (Harvey, Smid and Pirard 365). The Chinese have had several crewed outer space voyage programs for a long time. The first one was Project 714. At a time space fights was eminent, this top secret program was to objectively set up to see two people go to the space by 1973 via the Shuguang spacecraft. In this botched and failed mission, a total of 19 pilots were shortlisted. However, the mission terribly failed with economic reasons being the sole factor. Following the development of a safer landing mechanism, the second program was short lived and just like the first one, t never happened. After the failure in project 714, the Chinese Academy of Sciences put forward a new space program, the Project 863. This plan drawn by Chinese astronauts was to be composed of a crew space shuttle that could be used to carry crew members to a space location (Needham, 342). This project eventually evolved to become the famous Project 921 of 1992. In 1992, the first phase of the Project 921 received approval and funds to assist in the achievement o its plans. The famous Shenzhou program saw the deployment of both crewed and uncrewed spacecrafts. It was to occur in two categories where four voyages consisted of uncrewed while two comprised of crew. The pioneer uncrewed spacecraft was Shenzhou 1 in 1999 followed by Shenzhou 2 that carried test animals. The next one was Shenzhou 3 and Shenzhou 4 in which aboard were test models and were launched in the year 2002. China’s pioneer crew aboard the spacecraft was Shenzhou 5 in the year 2003 that carried Yang Liwei and traversed the orbital path for almost 21 hours. This undertaking elevated China to become the third nation to have launched a space shuttle with human. To mark the end of the Project 921, China commenced Shenzhou 6 in the year 2005. In this project, missions to the outer space were launched on the Long March 2F missile rocket and the launching centre was Jiuquan (Nair, 314). Technical engineering and administrative duties were provided by the China Crewed Space Engineering Office. Following the successful nature of the first phase of Project 921, China carried on to the second phase with the launch of Shenzhou 7. This mission was the foremost spacewalk mission. In its hallmark space laboratory, China initiated the two missions which had crew aboard. In conformity with the standards stipulated by the International Space Station (ISS), China’s Shenzhou spacecrafts used docking technologies. In September last year, 2011 China initiated the Tiangong 1 which was used in testing this docking machinery. China has managed to launch the Shenzhou 8 and Shenzhou 9 which was yet another encouraging story. China is also yet to accomplish the Shenzhou 10 mission in the year 2013. Additionally, China has plans of setting ups a bigger space station as the third phase of Project 921. China is able to undertake further missions to outer space, moon and mars with a clearly laid out plan of action. Among its goals include erecting independent satellite network, provision of commercial mission launches and an expedition to moon. Furthermore, China is looking for a way to set up remote sensing machinery, studying of space science or aerospace and creating a long term earth surveillance system. Considering the fact that China’s economy will outdo that of America, the space program in China will be enormous and may pose a threat to the Americans. This is because; the Chinese have laid clear space programs which have received enormous funding. An instance is the Tiangong 1 module that came as a surprise to many nations (Needham, 179). The principal space agency operational under the government of India is the Indian Space Research Organization abbreviated as ISRO. It is among the six leading space agencies in various nations in the world. Within its mandate, this space agency has laid out advancement in space technology and its application for the benefit of the nation as the primary objectives. Administratively, the Indian Space Research Organization is controlled by the department of space in India. Following its establishment in 1969, the Indian space agency has accomplished various goals. Its pioneer satellite, which was called the Aryabhata, was launched to outer space by the soviet in the year 1975. Secondly, the agency was able to launch its satellite, Rohini in the orbit using an Indian built vehicle called Satellite Launch Vehicle -3 (Harvey, Smid and Pirard 361). Subsequently, the space agency was able to devise a pair of two missile rockets namely Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. This particular rocket was used in the setting up of satellites within the geostationary orbital paths. The other rocket termed as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle was used to set up satellite within the polar orbital paths. These missiles have seen success stories in the Indian space shuttle realms. For instance, they were used to launch Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, which was the pioneer lunar mission. With the advantage of harboring aboriginal launch sites and capabilities, the Indian space agency has sought to set up manned outer space voyages. Additionally, the agency has future plans of exploring the lunar orbit as well as interplanetary probes. With a number of various installations such as assets, this agency has cooperated with the international society in multilateral and mutual contracts (Preeg, 352). Other viable plans set out by the agency include achievement of self reliance in aerospace science. This entails the training of astronauts and setting up other facilities. Moreover, the agency is working on further development of crew launch vehicles as well as demonstrating technology. The Indian space agency does not seem to be a major competitor for the American’s NASA. This is because; some of the undertakings being launched at the moment have already been achieved by America. The agency has achieved major milestones and received government support. This may help in booting its economy especially in the Asian countries. As such, the tremendous growth should be viewed as a space battle in Asia and not American (Needham, 274). Works Cited Harvey, Brian, Henk Smid and Theo Pirard. Emerging Space Powers: The New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East and South-America. Berlin: Springer, 2010. Print. Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China. Oxford: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print Nair, Kiran. Space: The Frontiers of Modern Defence. New Delhi: KnowledgeWorld , 2006. Preeg, Ernest. India and China: An Advanced Technology Race and How the United States Should Respond. Connectitut: CSIS, 2008. Space Scientists. Civilian space policy and applications. Routledge: DIANE Publishing, 2004. Read More