Moon slugfest

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: Space exploration is no longer the monopoly of the US, Russia, UK or France. Asia’s two giants, India and China seem to have arrived in the arena and as the race to the moon intensifies, one thing is becoming evident: the rapid rise of the technological prowess of the region.

Emboldened by their indigenous technological advances, both the nations are leaving no stone unturned to stamp their presence in space—be it by means of their individual lunar missions or concerted attempts to enter the $2 billion satellite launch business.

China has recently celebrated its first-ever space walk in an effort towards building a space station and push further into areas dominated by Russia and the US till now. The spacewalk was mainly aimed at testing China’s mastery of the technology involved. The main task was to retrieve a rack attached to the outside of the orbital module containing an experiment involving solid lubricants.

The Chinese spacewalk now paves the way for assembling a space station from two Shenzhou orbital modules, the next major goal of China’s manned spaceflight programme. China is also pursuing lunar exploration and may attempt to land a man on the moon in the next decade— possibly ahead of National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) 2020 target date for returning to the moon.

China launched its first manned mission, Shenzhou 5, in 2003, becoming only the third country after Russia and the US to launch a man into space. That was followed by a two-man mission in 2005. Apart from challenging Russia and the US, the recent spacewalk ups the ante in China’s competition with other aspiring Asian space powers Japan and India. Along with this feat, China is also seeking to gain a foothold in the satellite launch business.

Analysts opine that India has a distinct advantage in this field, having launched satellites for many nations onboard its launch vehicles. Interestingly, China took extreme caution in the face of the complexity of walking in space. Their mission was supported by Russian experts. Going forward, China plans to mass produce the next version of the Shenzhou space vehicle to service a future space station. It even claims it may make such missions available to other countries.