FPI / August 18, 2024
Geostrategy-Direct
By Richard Fisher
After 2035 or so, China intends to build a large Moon Base capable of supporting multiple astronauts, along with attendant unmanned exploration, power and communication support and construction systems.
In 2021 this intention was mentioned in some of the initial documents released describing the then new China-Russia International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, their multinational Moon coalition to rival that of the United States led Artemis Accords.
A manned Moon Base would be the most complex endeavor undertaken by China’s space program, as it would require a cadre of Moon-experienced astronauts, the construction of pressurized structures and their transport to the Moon, equipping those structures with oxygen regeneration, water re-use and scientific research capabilities, plus building independent energy sources and large Lunar Rovers for transport.
Chinese academic aerospace journals have offered some interesting Moon basing concepts, but one that may be more serious than most was published in the sixth issue of the 2023 volume of the journal Shanghai Aerospace.
The article is titled “Planning and ideas for the construction of a manned lunar scientific research and experimental station, and the authors are Zhang Chongfeng, Cui Yuxin, Peng Qibo, Wang Shenquan, Wu Weiyang and Chen Gang.
Some of these authors give this proposal greater credibility than others, starting with Zhang Chongfeng.
Zhang is the deputy chief designer of manned spacecraft and space laboratory systems of China's manned space program, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Science and Technology Committee of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)—possibly very involved in the design of China’s manned spacecraft and its current space station.
It is also possible that Zhang is a senior designer for China’s Moon Lander and now Moon Base architectures.
In addition, Cui Yuxin, of the Electronic Information Engineering department of Beihang University and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, has previously written about using lunar lava tubes for Moon basing.
Authors Peng Qibo and Wang Shenquan, both with the Scientific Research Training Center for Astronauts, have both written about using on-site lunar resources to support a Moon Base.
Wu Weiyang of the Shanghai Institute of Aerospace Systems Engineering has also written about using lunar lava tubes for Moon basing.
Before Moon Base construction can start, the authors state, China may first deploy a large pressurized Moon Rover to the lunar surface to survey potential construction sites, and then support the Moon Base.
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