While SpaceX battles the approval for the flight of its Starship from the US administration, China, on the other hand, already joined the fray to produce its own spaceships. Therefore, the Chinese acronym expressing its dismay at the US administration is particularly dire: the United States raced into the cosmos behind the Chinese.
Bureaucracy will make the USA take over
Musk stated that the space race now has more attention here and, furthermore, that China is becoming a more key player in that race. So while SpaceX was being bogged down with stupid-ass bureaucratic delays by the FAA in getting its license to fly its Starship, China, well, just took off with the pace of perfecting its own spaceships, some of which have been shamelessly inspired by Starship.
The open letter by SpaceX complains about the delays that have brought them accordingly into conflict with FAA highlighting the strategic importance of the Starship vis-a-vis China. It insists that the ship is critical to NASA's Artemis moon mission, which is designed to eventually return the United States to the Moon and prepare it for a mission to Mars while underlining the obvious necessity to counteract the march of China's space initiatives.
Starship is an asset for the United States
In addition to their use in lunar as well as Martian exploration, the Starship opens avenues for other possibilities that include valuable resources to the United States military. The Pentagon is considering taking advantage of Starship for military transport missions, looking to tap on its quick movement capacity across Earth.
In relation to civilian uses, Starship can alter the deployment of satellite constellations altogether, with the augmentation of Starlink coverage through the establishment of Starshield, a spy version of the satellite communication service.
China and its “unlimited” resources
China has benefitted from extensive government investment and an environment with limited regulation in advancing its program for the development of reusable rockets. Included in that ambitious effort is the Long March 9, being developed by the China Aerospace Science Technology Corporation.
CZ-9 has 30 engines and a design similar to Starship; the rocket would carry 100 tons to low orbit before returning to the surface. If the launch occurs in 2033, it would contribute to the development of the country's space telescopes, a lunar base, and, ultimately, human missions to Mars.
Weanwhile, with the rise of the private companies, a space-race has now started in China. The company LandSpace is leading the charge toward Zhuque 3, the Starship-like launcher, which is a smaller version of the Starship with a payload carrying capacity more on par with Falcon 9 and also consists of two stainless steel stages propelled by methane.
An experimental flight of this Zhuque 3 prototype succeeded in showing the time frame from 10 km until when the rocket made a precise landing during the second test flight. Deep Blue Aerospace was able to conduct an analogous test with its Nebula rocket; however, the landing was less than perfect. The company plans to perform the test again in November.
SpaceX now finds itself in a quite exceptional but paradoxical situation because of the coming Chinese competition. The company is not only required to face a genuine technological challenge in dealing with the bureaucracies handed down by the FAA. Delays imposed by the American agency concerning the Starship had been viewed by some as a damage and danger to American space leadership.
Elon's demands go the other way: criticism of the Biden administration and American space policy will lead, he hopes, to a simplified Starship launch procedure. His aim: to fly five unmanned ships to Mars in the next two years, then attempt to put a man in one of them two years later.
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