China wants to build space stations the size of kilometers
China’s National Science Foundation is funding a five-year project to research the prerequisites for assembling “ultra-large space stations” in orbit.
The government of the People’s Republic of China appears to see the country’s future in orbit. The National Science Foundation (NSFC) is a Chinese funding program for basic research. The NSFC invites tenders for research on the construction of so-called ultra-large structures in orbit over a total of ten areas for which knowledge is sought.
There is an “urgent need” for this. The first step is to clarify the basics. The main focus is on the development of lightweight structures as well as their transport to the orbital construction site and their subsequent assembly.
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Basic research focuses on logistical aspects
Kilometer-sized, ultra-large spacecraft are “important strategic space equipment for the future use of space resources, the exploration of the secrets of the universe and the long-term settlement of the earth’s orbit,” it says in the Project sketch.
As the South China Morning Post reports, the project is primarily intended to produce a particularly lightweight spaceship. The desired low weight is intended to ensure that the required material can be brought into orbit with as few starts as possible and assembled there more easily.
In order to gain practical knowledge, the scientists in the project are also to simulate the dynamics of the orbit in a simulation on Earth in order to investigate in this context how the assembly process could be carried out in a controlled manner.
The project outline doesn’t reveal much more. The vague foundational project is one of five that are estimated to be funded at a total of $ 2.3 million.
Chinese space research is already working on this
A 66-ton space station is already in the works and is due to go into operation in its first expansion stage in 2022. China is planning to set up eleven space missions. The space station is certainly not one of the ultra-large structures described here.
In any case, however, the planned solar power plant in geostationary orbit will be ultra-large. The power plant will collect solar energy and transmit the energy to earth via microwaves. A project is also already in progress with the aim of building a giant space telescope. The research focuses on the challenges of the automated, intelligent assembly of a telescope with a planned opening of ten meters. The Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is cooperating with the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom on the project.
