China is hiding secret military projects in space

The director of NASA, Bill Nelsontold a U.S. budget committee that it is “imperative” for the United States to get to the Moon before China’s plans. “We believe that much of their so-called civilian space program is a military program“he told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

China’s progress in space

“China has made extraordinary progress, especially in the last 10 years, but it is very, very secretive“, he said. The administrator of NASA was giving evidence at a committee hearing to approve the US space agency’s budget request of £20.3 billion ($25.4 billion) for 2025.

He was asked by the chairman of the committee Hal Rogers regarding the “very significant investments” from the China in their space programs and how the NASA would have kept hisadvantage” about China. “We are in a race“, he answered Nelson. “The latest date they said they will arrive [sulla Luna] It’s 2030 but it’s still moving forward. “It is our duty to get there first and use our research efforts for peaceful purposes“, he said.

He then told the committee members that China could claim parts of outer space as its own territory if it got to the Moon first. “My concern would be if China got there first and said, ‘This is our territory, you stay out.’ Obviously you don’t want to interfere with each other but don’t declare that all this territory is suddenly yours“, he said.

The Artemis Agreements and China

He used the continuous complaint of the China on Spratly Islands, a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, as an example of the superpower claiming territory. The Artemis chords they are an agreement that requires space activity to be conducted for peaceful purposes and has been signed by more than 40 countries, including the UK.

There China he did not sign these agreements.

“I hope the Chinese space program realizes that civilian space is for peaceful uses but we have not seen that demonstrated“Nelson said. There China it currently has 499 satellites in orbit, according to the US Defense Intelligence Agency. That’s more than double its number in 2019. It is also developing its own spy balloons and hypersonic missiles.

“We have to be realistic that China is investing a lot of money [nel suo programma spaziale] and has plenty of room to grow“, he said Nelson. “Their science is good, their engineering is good and the proof is in the pudding. Now they have a space station up there.” China’s Tiangong space station is permanently inhabited and was built in three missions in 2021 and 2022. It was completed on November 5, 2022.

Beijing’s lunar missions

Beijing hopes to send a crewed mission to the Moon and plans to build a base on the lunar surface. Last year, a Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth after nearly a full year in orbit, spending 276 days in space. State media said the uninhabited spacecraft returned to the Jiuquan launch center in northwest China. China as expected.

It was first launched in early August 2022, however, no details were given about what the spacecraft was, what technologies were tested and how high the orbit was.