williams space mission parts made in china

Notes:The 2-Player version of this game is pop bumper caps while others have white ones. We don"t know the reason for this difference. The 2-player "Space Odyssey" seems to always have yellow pop bumper caps.

Steve Kordek told us that the backglass art was derived from a picture he obtained from NASA. The picture surely was of the painting made by noted space artist Robert McCall (1919-2010) which can be seen here.

The U.S. military must undertake the necessary preparations to secure U.S. interests beyond geostationary orbit (GEO). As U.S. space activities expand into deep space, threats to economic and security interests are likely to emerge. There are technical challenges of operating beyond GEO (XGEO). The United States must begin investing to ensure U.S. space forces will be capable of such operations.

Today, the entirety of economic and military space activities is confined to the geocentric regime; however, commercial investments and new technologies have the potential to expand the reach of vital National space interests to the Cislunar regime and beyond in the near future. As technology marches forward, U.S. military spacepower must harmonize with the other instruments of power to protect, defend, and maintain the Nation’s strategic interests in space. – Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces.

The U.S. Space Force’s Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forcesintroduces the concept of space security and recognizes that “U.S. prosperity and economic security increasingly rely on the peaceful use of space.”

Strategists and policymakers must account for U.S. interests beyond geostationary orbit (XGEO) when developing future concepts of operations, policies, and resourcing for space forces. Those future interests will grow as commercial operations develop. The 2020 National Space Policy states that the Department of Defense shall, “protect freedom of navigation and preserve lines of communication that are open, safe, and secure in the space domain.”

This study provides recommendations for policymakers and strategists who must decide on space strategy, policy, force design, and resourcing of space forces. First, the paper offers basic assumptions about how commerce is likely to develop XGEO. Next, it provides an overview of the complexity of XGEO operations and highlights potential challenges and threats within XGEO. Last, the paper recommends technology investments and force design for XGEO.

The White House deep space strategy, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Developmentlays out a vision of “a sustainable human and robotic presence across the solar system – an expanding sphere of commercial, non-governmental activities in which increasing numbers of Americans live and work in space.”

Moreover, the strategy enumerates that USSF activities “such as space transportation and logistics, power, communication, navigation, and space domain awareness are of dual-use value to all space sectors – civil, national security, and commercial.”A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Developmentlays strong emphasis on space resources, Lunar mining, industrialization, and commercial partnerships..”

The inclusion of physical goods traversing lines of commerce marks a major diversification of the in-space economy from its current information-centric nature. Most gathered materials would likely be used in space. However, some space-manufactured products or extremely valuable rare-earth metals may be delivered to Earth.

In 2019, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress direct the executive branch to produce a long-term economic space resource strategy covering U.S. strategic interests in or relating to Cislunar space, including “an assessment of the viability of extraction of space-based precious minerals, onsite exploitation of space-based natural resources, and space-based solar power” and comparative assessment of China’s related programs.

Resources, logistics, and successful alliances may play a greater role in sustaining national spacepower than a narrow focus on military technological advantage.

Exploitation of the resources on the Moon and other celestial bodies could become the spotlight of a new round of the space race and a new “battlefield” among space powers. — Guoyu Wang, Deputy Director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Space Law Center

Anticipating a fully developed space economy, USSF Major Sean McClain assesses that “the most likely threats to the United States in the long-term will be against the nation’s ability to exploit resources in space that contribute to its gross domestic product (GDP) and overall economic strength.”

As Americans and their economic interests traverse or reside in deep space, they will encounter familiar challenges and hazards experienced already in other natural domains. Around the world, the U.S. military is frequently asked to prevent loss of life or property, or to help in recovery from natural or man-made hazards such as humanitarian relief operations, non-combatant evacuation operations, rescue, and assistance at sea.

The U.S. military must also contend with anticipated threats in XGEO. The promise of economic gain invariably leads to competition. In a competitive environment, conflict is inevitable as actors gain the ability to access and exploit valuable areas of space. These actors simultaneously gain an inherent ability to interfere with others through occupation, blockade, electronic interference, or other activities that cause degradation or damage. If malign actors face no threat of attribution and retaliation, they may be tempted to undermine the interests of other actors in space. In the worst case, these actors may include hostile nation-states or commercial actors and non-governmental actors engaged in harmful, illicit criminal activity or political violence.

When established in December 2019, USSF was tasked with defending and protecting U.S. interests in space. Until now, the limits of that mission have been in near Earth, out to approximately geostationary range (22,236 miles). With new U.S. public and private sector operations extending into Cislunar space, the reach of USSF’s sphere of interest will extend to 272,000 miles and beyond – more than a tenfold increase in range and 1,000-fold expansion in service volume. USSF now has an even greater surveillance task for space domain awareness (SDA) in that region, but its current capabilities and architecture are limited by technologies and an architecture designed for a legacy mission.

The complexity of the XGEO operating environment requires early investment in concepts and technology so the USSF can design, organize, train, and equip forces that United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) can use to achieve its strategic objectives.

Operating in XGEO is challenged by vast volumes, vast distances, complex orbital dynamics, and expanded spacecraft maneuverability. Familiar orbital dynamics considers the effect of one body (the Earth), on a second body (the spacecraft). Introducing a third gravitational body, the Moon, creates complex interactions (“3-body effects”) which challenge current navigation and custody systems, and require innovations to maintain space domain awareness (SDA) and logistical support.

In short, it is not possible to just send existing space systems beyond GEO into Cislunar space and immediately achieve mission success. Developing the key technologies requires time. Development of the underlying technologies must begin if operational systems are to be ready at the time of need.

The U.S. government must . . . be prepared to defend private and corporate rights and obligations all within keeping the Outer Space Treaty. And to enable freedom of action, the United States must have Cislunar situational awareness, a Cislunar presence, and eventually must be able to enforce the law through Cislunar power projection.

A basic space domain awareness (SDA) architecture to support commerce and safety of navigation and space traffic management might start with wide-area search from Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1 (EML1) and Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2 (EML2) such as depicted in the figure above, and eventually be augmented by SDA payloads on the Lunar surface.

SERVICING: Moon-Local logistical spacecraft to service, upgrade, and refuel the “highway patrollers,” and render rudimentary aid to civil/commercial spacecraft in distress.

SUPPLY DEPOT: A supply depot or logistical mothership / tanker craft to enable activities at GEO, XGEO, and the Moon-local areas by supporting spacecraft with propellant and communications relay.

While U.S. space forces face many immediate threats and needs, long-term threats and challenges also require attention and will likely be of strategic concern to national policymakers. U.S. interests will expand beyond GEO, and the complexity of the XGEO environment requires early concept and technology investment so military space forces are prepared to provide space security. The vast economic potential of space resources present either an opportunity to extend the period of U.S. primacy, or the chance for a rival to end the era of U.S. strategic leadership and domain dominance.

Military space forces must be part of a larger societal effort. To prevail, the USSF should engage with a variety of commercial stakeholders to clarify its future missions and extend its space domain awareness to the key locations in EML1 and EML2 in advance of human return to the Moon. The USSF should develop spacecraft capable of rendezvous and proximity operations for logistical resupply and it should begin now to partner with companies who are building a Cislunar footprint.

Critical enablers include efforts undertaken within the Space Vehicles directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is now responsible to the USSF.

Captain David Buehler, USSF, is the Cislunar Tech Area & Flight Experiment Lead at Air Force Research Lab. Colonel Eric Felt, USSF, is Director of the Space Vehicles Directorate at Air Force Research Lab. Dr. Charles Finley is Cislunar Security Lead for the Center for Rapid Innovation at Air Force Research Lab. Peter Garretson is a Strategic Planning Engineer for Apogee Engineering. Dr. Jaime Stearns is Space Control Mission Lead at Air Force Research Lab. Dr. Andy Williams is Deputy Capability Lead for Space Superiority at Air Force Research Lab. This paper represents solely the authors’ views and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of any Department or Agency of the U.S. Government. If you have a different perspective, we’d like to hear from you.

U.S. Space Force, Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces, Headquarters United States Space ForceJune 2020, p.14, accessed August 12, 2020, https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/1/Space%20Capstone%20Publication_10%20Aug%202020.pdf ↑

U.S. Space Force, Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces, Headquarters United States Space ForceJune 2020, p.30, accessed August 12, 2020, https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/1/Space%20Capstone%20Publication_10%20Aug%202020.pdf ↑

U.S. Space Force, Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces, Headquarters United States Space ForceJune 2020, p. 35, accessed August 12, 2020, https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/1/Space%20Capstone%20Publication_10%20Aug%202020.pdf ↑

U.S. Space Force, Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces, Headquarters United States Space ForceJune 2020, accessed August 12, 2020, https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/1/Space%20Capstone%20Publication_10%20Aug%202020.pdf ↑

U.S. Space Force, Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces, Headquarters United States Space ForceJune 2020, accessed August 12, 2020, https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/1/Space%20Capstone%20Publication_10%20Aug%202020.pdf ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, p.1, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, p.1, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, p.1, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

Mike Wall, “NASA wants to buy moon dirt from private companies,” Space.com, September 10, 2020, accessed September 28, 2020, https://www.space.com/nasa-buy-moon-dirt-private-companies.html ↑

Memorandum of Understanding Between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy Regarding Energy-Related Civil Space Activities, NASA, October 19, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_doe_mou_energy_related_space_activities.pdf ↑

Memorandum of Understanding Between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the United States Space Force, NASA, September 21, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_ussf_mou_21_sep_20.pdf ↑

The Artemis Accords are an initiative by NASA to create a series of bilateral diplomatic agreements for participants in the Artemis program which establish common principles, including the use of space resources. See: NASA, “Artemis Accords,” NASA.gov, May 15, 2020, accessed September 1, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html ↑

The executive order expresses the U.S. intent to partner with “commercial entities to recover and use resources, including water and certain minerals, in outer space” and ensure Americans “have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law,”; The White House, “Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources,” April 6, 2020, accessed April 9, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-encouraging-international-support-recovery-use-space-resources/ ↑

The White House, “Remarks by Vice President Pence at the Fifth Meeting of the National Space Council | Huntsville, AL,” March 26, 2019, August 7, 2019, accessed February 16, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-fifth-meeting-national-space-council-huntsville-al/ ↑

Chelsea Gohd, “Water on the moon is more common than we thought, studies reveal,” Space.com, October 26, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020, https://www.space.com/water-on-moon-shadow-cold-traps-discovery ↑

UBS, “Longer Term Investments Space,” UBS.com, November 30, 2018 Accessed December 12, 2020, https://www.ubs.com/content/dam/WealthManagementAmericas/documents/space-p.pdf ↑

“Space: Investing in the Final Frontier,” Morgan Stanley, November 7, 2018, accessed January 30, 2019, https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space ↑

Rich Smith, “The $1.1 Trillion Space Industry Prediction You Can’t Afford to Miss,” The Motley Fool, February 16, 2018, accessed https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/16/the-11-trillion-space-industry-prediction-you-cant.aspx ↑

Brian Higgenbotham , “The Space Economy: An Industry Takes Off,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, November 11, 2018, accessed January 30, 2019, at https://www.uschamber.com/series/above-the-fold/the-space-economy-industry-takes ↑

Michael Sheetz , “The space industry will be worth nearly $3 trillion in 30 years, Bank of America predicts,” CNBC, October 31, 2017, accessed January 30, 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/the-space-industry-will-be-worth-nearly-3-trillion-in-30-years-bank-of-america-predicts.html ↑

Wilbur Ross, “A New Space Race: Getting to the Trillion-Dollar Space Economy World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland,” Commerce Department, January 24, 2020, accessed February 21, 2020, https://www.commerce.gov/news/speeches/2020/01/remarks-secretary-commerce-wilbur-ross-new-space-race-getting-trillion-dollar ↑

Wilbur Ross, “A New Space Race: Getting to the Trillion-Dollar Space Economy World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland,” Commerce Department, January 24, 2020, accessed February 21, 2020, https://www.commerce.gov/news/speeches/2020/01/remarks-secretary-commerce-wilbur-ross-new-space-race-getting-trillion-dollar ↑

Wilbur Ross, “A Bright Future for U.S. Leadership of Space Commerce,” Commerce.gov, February 21, 2018, accessed September 1, 2020, https://www.commerce.gov/news/speeches/2018/02/secretary-ross-bright-future-us-leadership-space-commerce ↑

Wilbur Ross, “Remarks by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross at the Sixth National Space Council Meeting,” Commerce.gov, August 20, 2019, Accessed September 1, 2020, https://www.commerce.gov/news/speeches/2019/08/remarks-us-commerce-secretary-wilbur-l-ross-sixth-national-space-council↑

Bernard F. Kutter and George F. Sowers, “Cislunar-1000: Transportation supporting a self-sustaining Space Economy,” ULA, AIAA Space 2016, available at AIAA, accessed March 11, 2019, https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2016-5491; FAST SPACE: Leveraging Ultra low-cost Space Access for 21st Century Challenges, Air University, January 13, 2017, accessed August 1, 2019, https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/Research/Space-Horizons/documents/Fast%20Space_Public_2017.pdf; Jerry Hendrix and Michelle Shevin-Coetzee, From Blue to Black: Applying Sea Power to the Ocean of Space, Center for a New American Security (CNAS), November 1, 2016, accessed November 3, 2020, https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep06246?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents ; Jerry Hendrix and Adam Routh, A Space Policy for the Trump Administration, CNAS, October 2017, accessed November 3, 2020, https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/7815-a-space-policy-for-the-trump-administrationpdf; Spencer Kaplan, Eyes on the Prize The Strategic Implications of Cislunar Space and the Moon, CSIS, July 14, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020, http://aerospace.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200714_Kaplan_Cislunar_FINAL.pdf;James A. Vedda, Cislunar Development: What To Build—And Why, The Aerospace Corporation, April 2018, accessed March 11, 2019, https://aerospace.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/CislunarDevelopment.pdf; George E. Pollock IV and James A. Vedda, Cislunar Stewardship: Planning for Sustainability and International Cooperation, The Aerospace Corporation, June 2020, accessed November 3, 2020, https://aerospace.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/Pollock-Vedda_CislunarStewardship_20200601.pdf ↑

Air Force Space Command, The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy: Report on the Space Futures Workshop, September 5, 2019, p.4 & 17, accessed February 10, 2020, https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/documents/Future%20of%20Space%202060%20v2%20(5%20Sep).pdf?ver=2019-09-06-184933-230 with an graphically updated version released on 3 October 2019 at: https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/The%20Future%20of%20Space%202060%20-%203Oct19.pdf ↑

Air Force Space Command, The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy: Report on the Space Futures Workshop, September 5, 2019, p.4 & 17, accessed February 10, 2020, https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/documents/Future%20of%20Space%202060%20v2%20(5%20Sep).pdf?ver=2019-09-06-184933-230 with an graphically updated version released on 3 October 2019 at: https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/The%20Future%20of%20Space%202060%20-%203Oct19.pdf ↑

Air Force Space Command, The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy: Report on the Space Futures Workshop, September 5, 2019, accessed February 10, 2020, https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/documents/Future%20of%20Space%202060%20v2%20(5%20Sep).pdf?ver=2019-09-06-184933-230 with an graphically updated version released on 3 October 2019 at: https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/The%20Future%20of%20Space%202060%20-%203Oct19.pdf ↑

Steven J. Butow, Thomas Cooley, Eric Felt, and Joel B. Mozer, State Of The Space Industrial Base 2020: A Time For Action To Sustain US Economic & Military Leadership In Space Summary Report,Department of Defense, July 2020, accessed August 3, 2020, https://cdn.afresearchlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/27223753/State-of-the-Space-Industrial-Base-2020-Report_July-2020_FINAL.pdf ↑

For an in-depth treatment of these trends, see: Namrata Goswami and Peter Garretson, Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space(Landham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2020). ↑

Guoyu Wang, “NASA’s Artemis Accords: the path to a united space law or a divided one?,” The Space Review, August 24, 2020, accessed August 28, 2020, https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4009/1 ↑

Sean McClain, Celestial Sentinels: A Framework For Cislunar Space Domain Awareness In 2035, Air Command and Staff College (Air University), March 2020. ↑

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress should: “Ensure U.S. Space Command and any future space-oriented service are responsible for protecting freedom of navigation and keeping lines of communication open, safe, and secure in the space domain, as the U.S. Navy does for U.S. interests in the maritime commons.”; U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 2019 Report to Congress, November 2019, accessed February 10, 2020, https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/Chapter%204%20Section%203%20-%20China%E2%80%99s%20Ambitions%20in%20Space%20-%20Contesting%20the%20Final%20Frontier.pdf; Dr. Mir Sadat of the National Security Council stated, “It will be the U.S. Space Force which will provide the necessary expertise for the U.S. Space Command to ensure unfettered access to and the freedom to operate within space…just as…the U.S. Navy stands watch to ensure that we freely navigate the world’s seas.”;Transcript: U.S. Space Strategy and Indo-Pacific Cooperation from Patrick M. Cronin, Masashi Murano & H.R. McMaster, “Space Strategy in the Indo-Pacific,” Hudson Institute, November 13, 2019, accessed March 3, 2020, https://www.hudson.org/research/15481-transcript-u-s-space-strategy-and-indo-pacific-cooperation; Dr. Scott Pace, National Space Council Secretary: “U.S. private sector must have confidence that it will be able to profit from capital investments made to develop and utilize in-situ resources, commercial infrastructure, and facilities in outer space. Furthermore, certain types of rights and obligations typically associated with exclusive use and private property are needed. In 2015, the United States took an important step with the enactment of the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. This Act provides that U.S. citizens are entitled to own, as private property, asteroid and space resources they have obtained in accordance with applicable law, including our international obligations” and that “U.S. Government, working with its space partners and the private sector, should use legal and diplomatic means to create a stable, peaceful environment not only for governmental activities, but also for commercial ones. These legal and diplomatic means include efforts to minimize and mitigate harmful interference to our space systems, whether from terrestrial actors or from space actors. In addition to the UN Charter and other applicable law, such as the right of self-defense, several provisions of the Outer Space Treaty provide legal principles that would be applied toward these ends.”; Scott Pace, “Space Development, Law, and Values” [IISL Galloway Space Law Symposium Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.], December 13, 2017, August 1, 2019, https://spacepolicyonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Scott-Pace-to-Galloway-FINAL.pdf; The DIU-AFRL-USSF “State of the Industrial Base 2020 report called on the USSF to play “an increased role in America’s return to the Moon (such as providing safety of navigation services),”as well as to emulate the US Navy’s role in assuring the maritime domain” to drive commercial confidence for a more rapid expansion of US space entrepreneurial activity. It also stated, “As part of its mission, the USSF should articulate its role to secure commerce and protect civil infrastructure in the space domain. This examination should consider the degree to which this role should emulate the US Navy role in assuring the maritime domain. Clarity on this issue will drive commercial confidence for a more rapid expansion of US space entrepreneurial activity. When implementing this part of its mission, the USSF should examine an increased role in America’s return to the Moon (such as providing safety of navigation services) and expanded opportunities for partnerships with companies to develop prototypes, to procure operational product services, and to sponsor new competition.” From Steven J. Butow, Thomas Cooley, Eric Felt, and Joel B. Mozer, State Of The Space Industrial Base 2020: A Time For Action To Sustain US Economic & Military Leadership In Space Summary Report,Department of Defense, July 2020, accessed August 3, 2020, https://cdn.afresearchlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/27223753/State-of-the-Space-Industrial-Base-2020-Report_July-2020_FINAL.pdf; “The U.S. military must define and execute its role in promoting, exploiting, and defending the expanded commercial, civil, and military activities and human presence in space driven by industry, NASA, and other nation-states” and “The spatial domain of operation for space systems will expand beyond GEO to potentially encompass the entire Cislunar domain with increased capability for and speed of maneuver across that domain. In addition, military actions will extend to the protection of military, civil, commercial, and human space assets. The trend is for space to become a more critical domain of potential conflict and an increasingly integral part of cross-domain conflict.” ; Air Force Space Command, The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy: Report on the Space Futures Workshop, September 5, 2019, accessed February 10, 2020, https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/documents/Future%20of%20Space%202060%20v2%20(5%20Sep).pdf?ver=2019-09-06-184933-230 with an graphically updated version released on 3 October 2019 at: https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/The%20Future%20of%20Space%202060%20-%203Oct19.pdf; They also argue: “much as the United States Navy assumed responsibility for protecting lines of commerce on the high seas, only a military force will be equipped to protect lines of commerce in space. With commercial space activities growing exponentially, and the expressed NSS of the United States, such a force is needed, and the USSF should be that force.” Dustin L Grant and Matthew J. Neil, “The Case For Space: A Legislative Framework For An Independent United States Space Force,” Air Command and Staff College Maxwell AFB United State, April 1, 2018. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1053020.pdf ; McClain states: “Such an economic expansion requires commercial investment and development, supported by national policies and incentives, with the military providing security against threats to U.S. and Allied interests. The most likely threats to the U.S. in the long term will be against the nation’s ability to exploit resources in space that contribute to its gross domestic product (GDP) and overall economic strength as a means of competing with other nations.”; Sean McClain, Celestial Sentinels: A Framework For Cislunar Space Domain Awareness In 2035, Air Command and Staff College (Air University), March 2020. ↑

Phrase coined by Dr. Matt Daniels after an insight provided by Dr. Simon “Pete” Worden, Brig Gen, USAF-Ret., that maneuverability changes at 100,000 km altitude above Earth, about 2.7 xGEO. Source: Conversation between Dr. Daniels and Lt Col Peter Garretson. See also, Matthew Daniels and Pete Worden, American Spaceflight, Forthcoming. ↑

“Memorandum Of Understanding Between The National Aeronautics And Space Administration And The United States Space Force,” NASA.gov, September 21, 2020, accessed September 28, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_ussf_mou_21_sep_20.pdf ↑

Familiar two-line elements work within the space dominated by the Earth’s gravity, but fall apart once a second body exerts a significant influence, requiring new software for custody (SDA), planning, and guidance and navigation. One approach is to adapt existing models to change the relevant center of gravity as spacecraft transit zones of influence. A second approach to meaningfully navigate and keep custody of objects, requires the development of vector covariance messages which provide not only the spacecraft vectors but also polynomial equations with greater precision state values which allow easy ephemeris computation over the span of weeks. ↑

The White House National Space Council, A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development, WhiteHouse.gov, JULY 23, 2020, p.3, accessed https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A-New-Era-for-Space-Exploration-and-Development-07-23-2020.pdf ↑

Jeff Foust, “Eight Countries sign Artemis Accords,” Space News, October 13, 2020, accessed December 21, 2020, https://spacenews.com/eight-countries-sign-artemis-accords/ ↑

Sandra Erwin, “Moon patrols could be a future reality for Space Force,” Space News, November 2, 2020 accessed November 6, 2020, https://spacenews.com/moon-patrols-could-be-a-future-reality-for-the-u-s-military/ ; Joanne Perkins, “AFRL announces two new space flight experiments,” Air Force Research Laboratory / Published September 03, 2020, accessed November 6, 2020, https://www.kirtland.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2336614/afrl-announces-two-new-space-flight-experiments/ ↑

Namrata Goswami and Peter Garretson, Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space(Landham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2020). ↑

Building upon successes such as ANGELS and EAGLE/Mycroft, an AFRL-USSF partnership can extend USSF access and space domain awareness XGEO. See: Air Force Research Lab, “Fact Sheet Automated Navigation and Guidance Experiment for Local Space (ANGELS),” June 28, 2016, accessed April 9, 2020, https://www.kirtland.af.mil/Portals/52/documents/AFD-131204-039.pdf?ver=2016-06-28-105617-297; Air Force Research Lab, “EAGLE Experiment Aims To Improve Space Access,” January 15, 2019, accessed April 9, 2020, https://cdn.afresearchlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/15061719/Final-EAGLE-Fact-Sheet-5142018.pdf ↑

After completing its primary objective, the probe left lunar orbit for the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point, to test the Chinese tracking and control network, making the China National Space Administration the third space agency after NASA and ESA to have visited this point.2 on 25 August 2011, and began transmitting data from its new position in September 2011.2 to begin an extended mission to the asteroid 4179 Toutatis,CNSA the fourth space agency to directly explore asteroids, after NASA, ESA and JAXA. As of 2014, Chang"e 2 has travelled over 100 million km from Earth,

Chang"e 2 was the backup of the Chang"e 1 probe and it had been modified for its own mission.Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and Yong-Chun Zheng of the NAOC, the spacecraft also had a shorter Earth-to-Moon cruise time of 5 days, rather than 12. The probe"s launch rocket had two more boosters to accomplish this more direct route to the Moon.laser altimeter"s footprint was smaller than Chang"e 1"s, achieving 5-meter vertical accuracy in its estimate of the Moon"s radius. It also pulsed more frequently – five times per second rather than just once per second, as Chang"e 1"s altimeter did. Additionally, the probe"s main camera had a spatial resolution of 10 metres (33 ft), rather than 120 metres (390 ft). The total cost of the Chang"e 2 mission was approximately CN¥900 million ($125 million).

Late in the mission, Chang"e 2"s orbit was lowered to an elliptical one, with the same apolune (100 km) as Chang"e 1, but with a perilune of only 15 km. Tracking for the mission was performed with an X-band radio capability, which was not available for Chang"e 1. Zheng remarked that "the mission goals of Chang"e 2 were focused into the high resolution image for the future landing site of CE-3 lunar lander and rover. The success of Chang"e 2 provided an important technical basis for the successful implementation of China"s future lunar exploration,"Queqiao relay satellite was based on Chang"e 2 design.

The spacecraft entered an orbit with a perigee of 200 km and an apogee of 380,000 km, and separated from the carrier rocket as planned. It was the first time that a Chinese lunar probe directly entered an Earth-to-Moon transfer orbit without orbiting the Earth first.

On 8 June 2011, Chang"e 2 completed its extended mission, and left lunar orbit for the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point, to test the Chinese tracking and control network.

According to Ouyang Ziyuan"s report to the 16th Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chang"e 2 departed from L2 on 15 April 2012, and began a mission to the asteroid 4179 Toutatis.NASA, ESA and JAXA.

As of 2016, Chang"e 2 has reached a distance of over 200 million km from Earth; potentially, it has enough fuel remaining to continue functioning up to a distance of 300 million km, according to the China Aerospace Corporation. Contact with the probe was lost in 2014, however, due to weakening signal strength.

Jones, Andrew (16 April 2021). "China to launch a pair of spacecraft towards the edge of the solar system". . Retrieved 16 April 2021. Wu added that the 2010 Chang"e-2 lunar orbiter, which later conducted a flyby of asteroid Toutatis, is expected to return to the vicinity of the earth around 2027.

Robert Pearlman (1 October 2010). "China launches lunar probe Chang"e II". collectSPACENews. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2010.

"China"s space probe flies by asteroid Toutatis" Archived 2012-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. China Daily. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.

Chang"e 4 (Chinese: 嫦娥四号; pinyin: Cháng"é Sìhào; Chang"e No. 4") is a robotic spacecraft mission, part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. China achieved humanity"s first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, on 3 January 2019.

The spacecraft was originally built as a backup for Chang"e 3 and became available after Chang"e 3 landed successfully in 2013. The configuration of Chang"e 4 was adjusted to meet new scientific and performance objectives.Chang"e, the Chinese Moon goddess.

In November 2019, Chang’e 4 mission team was awarded Gold Medal by the Royal Aeronautical Society.World Space Award by the International Astronautical Federation.

This mission will attempt to determine the age and composition of an unexplored region of the Moon, as well as develop technologies required for the later stages of the program.

The landing craft touched down at 02:26 UTC on 3 January 2019, becoming the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon. Yutu-2 rover was deployed about 12 hours after the landing.

Direct communication with Earth is impossible on the far side of the Moon, since transmissions are blocked by the Moon. Communications must go through a communications relay satellite, which is placed at a location that has a clear view of both the landing site and the Earth. As part of the Lunar Exploration Program, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched the Queqiao (Chinese: 鹊桥; pinyin: Quèqiáo; Magpie Bridge") relay satellite on 20 May 2018 to a halo orbit around the Earth–Moon L2 point.Chang"e 2 design,X band signals from the lander and rover, and relay them to Earth control on the S band.

The spacecraft took 24 days to reach L2, using a lunar swing-by to save fuel.Queqiao finished its final adjustment burn and entered the L2 halo mission orbit, which is about 65,000 kilometres (40,000 mi) from the Moon. This is the first lunar relay satellite at this location.

As part of the Chang"e 4 mission, two microsatellites (45 kg or 99 lb each) named Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2 (Chinese: 龙江; pinyin: Lóng Jiāng; Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder or DSLWP Queqiao in May 2018. Both satellites were developed by Harbin Institute of Technology, China.Longjiang-1 failed to enter lunar orbit,Longjiang-2 succeeded and operated in lunar orbit until 31 July 2019 when it was deliberately directed to crash onto the Moon.

The Queqiao launched on 21 May 2018. It used a lunar swing-by transfer orbit to reach the moon. After the first trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs), the spacecraft is in place. On 25 May, Queqiao approached the vicinity of the L2. After several small adjustments, Queqiao arrived at L2 halo orbit on 14 June.

Landing Camera (LCAM), mounted on the bottom of the spacecraft, the camera began to produce a video stream at the height of 12 km (7.5 mi) above the lunar surface.

Lunar Micro Ecosystem,biosphere cylinder 18 cm (7.1 in) long and 16 cm (6.3 in) in diameter with seeds and insect eggs to test whether plants and insects could hatch and grow together in synergy.cottonseed, potato, rapeseed, fruit flyoxygen through photosynthesis. It was hoped that together, the plants and fruit flies could establish a simple synergy within the container.closed ecological systems informs astrobiology and the development of biological life support systems for long duration missions in space stations or space habitats for eventual space farming.

Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN), is an energetic neutral atom analyzer provided by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF). It will reveal how solar wind interacts with the lunar surface, which may help determine the process behind the formation of lunar water.

The cost of the entire mission was close to building one kilometer of subway. The cost-per-kilometer of subway in China varies from 500 million yuan (about US$72 million) to 1.2 billion yuan (about US$172 million), based on the difficulty of construction.

The landing site is within a crater called Von KármánSouth Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon that was still unexplored by landers.Theodore von Kármán was the PhD advisor of Qian Xuesen, the founder of the Chinese space program.

In January 2020, China released a large amount of data and high-resolution images from the mission lander and rover.lunar ejecta sequence, and, as well, direct analysis of its internal architecture. These were based on observations made by the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) on board the Yutu-2 rover while studying the far side of the Moon.

Chang"e 4 marks the first major United States-China collaboration in space exploration since the 2011 Congressional ban. Scientists from both countries had regular contact prior to the landing.Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was not in the right position for this during the landing.

Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and principal investigator on one of the instruments onboard Chang"e, said: "We know the far side from orbital images and satellites, but we don’t know it from the surface. It"s uncharted territory and that makes it very exciting."

The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 12:34 a.m. ET Thursday.

The Crew Dragon, the vehicle carrying the astronauts, detached from the rocket after reaching orbit, and it’s expected to spend about one day maneuvering through space before linking up with the space station. The capsule is slated to dock at 1:17 a.m. ET Friday.

Thursday’s launch marked the second attempt to get this mission, called Crew-6, off the ground. The first launch attempt was grounded on Monday by what officials said was a clogged filter.

“After a thorough review of the data and ground system, NASA and SpaceX determined there was a reduced flow back to the ground TEA-TEB catch tank due to a clogged ground filter,” according to an update from NASA posted to its website early Wednesday.

Benji Reed, SpaceX’s director of crew mission management, said that reviews of the data found that the rocket probably would have taken off without a hitch despite the clogged filter, though flight controllers didn’t have enough data during the countdown to be certain.

An issue cropped up with a sensor on one of six hooks that are used to hold the Crew Dragon’s nose cone, a cap on the top of the spacecraft that protects the ISS docking hardware during launch. But the Crew Dragon was able to use a back-up system to pop the nose cone open.

The hook is also used when the spacecraft latches on to the ISS, securing the vehicle to its docking port. But the sensor shouldn’t pose an issue because there are additional sensors to provide data, Reed said.

The Crew-6 astronauts waited aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Tuesday during the launch countdown, which was ultimately called off because of a ground systems issue.

This mission marks the seventh astronaut flight SpaceX has carried out on NASA’s behalf since 2020, continuing the public-private effort to keep the orbiting laboratory fully staffed.

The Crew-6 team on board includes NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, a veteran of three space shuttle missions, and first-time flyer Warren “Woody” Hoburg, as well as Sultan Alneyadi, who is the second astronaut from the UAE to travel to space, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Once Bowen, Hoburg, Fedyaev and Alneyadi are on board the space station, they’ll work to take over operations from the SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts who arrived at the space station in October 2022.

The mission comes as the astronauts currently on the space station have been grappling with a separate transportation issue. In December, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that had been used to transport cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station sprang a coolant leak. After the capsule was deemed unsafe to return the astronauts, Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos,launched a replacement vehicle on February 23. It arrived at the space station on Saturday.

During their stint in space, the Crew-6 astronauts will oversee more than 200 science and tech projects, including researching how some substances burn in the microgravity environment and investigating microbial samples that will be collected from the exterior of the space station.

The crew will play host to two other key missions that will stop by the space station during their stay. The first is the Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will mark the first astronaut mission under a Boeing-NASA partnership. Slated for April, the flight will carry NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the space station, marking the last phase of a testing and demonstration program Boeing needs to carry out to certify its Starliner spacecraft for routine astronaut missions.

Then, in May, a group of four astronauts are scheduled to arrive on Axiom Mission 2, or AX-2 for short — a privately funded spaceflight to the space station. That initiative, which will deploy a separate SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, will have as its commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who is now a private astronaut with the Texas-based space company Axiom, which brokered and organized the mission.

It will also include three paying customers, similar to Axiom Mission 1, which visited the space station in April 2022, including the first astronauts from Saudi Arabia to visit the orbiting laboratory. Their seats were paid for by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Russian cosmonaut Fedyaev joined the Crew-6 team as part of a ride-sharing agreement inked in 2022 between NASA and Roscosmos. The agreement aims to ensure continued access to the space station for both Roscosmos and NASA: Should either the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule or the Russian Soyuz spacecraft used to transport people there experience difficulties and be taken out of service, its counterpart can handle getting astronauts from both countries to orbit.

Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions spurred by its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia remains the United States’ primary partner on the space station. Officials at NASA have repeatedly said the conflict has had no impact on cooperation between the countries’ space agencies.

“Space cooperation has a very long history, and we are setting the example of how people should be living on Earth,” Fedyaev said during a January 24 news briefing.

SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts pause for a photo after arriving at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 21: (from left) Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and NASA astronauts Warren "Woody" Hoburg and Stephen Bowen.

“I’ve been working and training with the cosmonauts for over 20 years now, and it’s always been amazing,” he said during the briefing. “Once you get to space it’s just one crew, one vehicle, and we all have the same goal.”

He also completed military submarine training and served in the US Navy before he was selected for the NASA astronaut corps in 2000, becoming the first submarine officer to be chosen by the space agency.

Hoburg, who is serving as pilot for this mission, is a Pittsburgh native who completed a doctorate degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, before becoming an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. He joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017.

“We’re going to be living in space for six months. I think back to six months ago and think — OK, that’s a long time,” Hoburg told reporters about his expectations for the journey.

But, Hoburg added, “I’m deeply looking forward to that first look out the cupola,” referring to the well-known area on the space station that features a large window offering panoramic views of Earth.

Alneyadi, who served as backup in 2019 for Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, the first astronaut from the UAE to travel to orbit, is now slated to become the first UAE astronaut to complete a long-duration stay in space.

In a January news conference, Alneyadi said he planned to bring Middle Eastern food to share with his crewmates while in space. A trained jiujitsu practitioner, he’ll also be packing along a kimono, the martial art’s traditional uniform.

“It’s hard to believe that this is really happening,” Alneyadi said at a news conference after arriving at Kennedy Space Center on February 21. “I can’t ask for more of a team. I think we are ready — physically, mentally and technically.”

China"s Chang"e 5 lunar lander just marked a historic first: The spacecraft became the first to detect water on the moon at its landing site in real time.

Water was first definitively detected on the moon from orbit, by India"s Chandrayaan-1 mission using NASA"s Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument (following several tentative detections beforehand by other missions and telescopes). The Chandrayaan-1 findings were announced in September 2009, and water has since been extensively mapped from orbit by missions such as NASA"s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been operating at the moon since 2009.

Before Chang"e 5, however, no moon mission had found water in real time at the lunar surface. (Apollo astronauts in the 1970s brought home samples containing water, but it wasn"t detected until decades later in the lab, after equipment had improved.)

Also contributing to the gap in water finds was a long wait time between surface missions, as China"s Chang"e 3 mission in 2013 was the first to touch down softly on the lunar surface since the Soviet Union"s Luna 24 mission 37 years before, in 1976.

Landing missions should accelerate under initiatives such as NASA"s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which has a suite of missions planned in the coming years. NASA also plans an ice-hunting rover mission called Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) that will land in late 2023 or so just west of Nobile Crater, which sits near the moon"s south pole.

China has launched several successful moon missions in recent years, including Chang"e 4, which passed 1,000 days on the far side of the moon (the first such mission to land there) in November 2020. The country plans to send Chang"e 6 to collect samples from the far side of the moonin 2024.

“We are also considering using the moon as an outpost for space exploration,” Kwon Hyun-joon, director general of space and nuclear energy at South Korea’s Ministry of Science, said in a written response to questions. “Although we hope to explore the moon itself, we also recognize its potential to act as a base for further deep space exploration such as Mars and beyond.”

South Korea’s lunar spacecraft, named Danuri, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, setting out on a roundabout but fuel-efficient path that will have it arriving at the moon in mid-December. There, it will begin an orbit at an altitude of 62 miles above the moon’s surface. The main mission is scheduled to last for one year.

Originally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, the mission was given the name Danuri after it became the winning entry in a naming contest. It is a portmanteau of the Korean words for “moon” and “enjoy.”

Danuri will join spacecraft from NASA, India and China that are currently exploring Earth’s companion. Much like the United Arab Emirates, which launched toward Mars on a Japanese rocket in 2020, South Korea is the latest country with a small but ambitious space program to set out on a beyond low-Earth orbit. And also like the U.A.E.’s Hope orbiter, the Danuri mission is intended to make meaningful scientific contributions to global efforts to explore and understand the solar system.

Mr. Kwon said the main goal of the Danuri mission was to develop basic technologies like the design of orbital trajectories, deep space navigation, a high-thrust propulsion system and a 35-meter antenna to communicate with distant spacecraft.

But the spacecraft’s scientific payload is sophisticated, and will aid scientists in South Korea and globally in studying the moon’s magnetic field, measuring its quantities of elements and molecules like uranium, water and helium-3 and photographing the dark craters at the lunar poles, where the sun never shines. In addition to providing one of the instruments, called ShadowCam, NASA chose nine scientists to participate on Danuri.

“We have two major scientific objectives,” said Ho Jin, a professor of astronomy and space science at Kyung Hee University and the principal investigator for the magnetometer. “One is the space environment of near-moon space and the other is to understand the early history of lunar evolution.”

Ian Garrick-Bethell, a professor of planetary science at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a participating scientist on the Danuri mission, said that the early magnetic field appears to have been surprisingly strong — potentially even as much as double the strength of Earth’s current magnetic field.

ImageFinal inspections of the Danuri spacecraft were conducted at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute before it was shipped off to Florida for launch.Credit...Korean Aerospace Research Institute

ImageA briefing was held in Danuri’s control room at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute before launch.Credit...Korean Aerospace Research Institute

He is hoping that after the spacecraft’s primary mission of one year is complete, South Korea could choose to move Danuri much closer to the moon’s surface, within 12 miles or less, where the magnetometer could get a much better look at the magnetized rocks.

This work also requires combining measurements with those made by two NASA spacecraft, THEMIS-ARTEMIS P1 and P2, which travel around the moon on highly elliptical orbits, so they can measure the changes in the solar wind while Danuri measures the induced magnetic fields closer to the surface.

“What we would learn from that is kind of a global map of the interior temperature and potentially composition and maybe even water content of the deep parts of the moon,” Dr. Garrick-Bethel said.

Scientists will use another of Danuri’s instruments, a gamma-ray spectrometer, to measure quantities of different elements on the moon’s surface. The Danuri’s device can pick up a wider spectrum of lower energy gamma rays than similar instruments on earlier lunar missions, “and this range is full of new information to detect elements on the moon,” said Naoyuki Yamashita, a New Mexico-based scientist who works for the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. He is also a participating scientist on Danuri.

The amounts of the radioactive elements could provide a history explaining when various parts of the moon’s surface cooled and hardened, Dr. Yamashita said, helping scientists to work out which of the moon’s lava flows are older or younger.

The Korean Aerospace Research Institute, South Korea’s equivalent of NASA, will use Danuri’s high-resolution camera to scout the lunar surface for potential sites for a robotic lander mission in 2031, Mr. Kwon said.

Jean-Pierre Williams, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and another participating scientist in the Danuri mission, is hoping to produce detailed temperature maps of the craters by combining the ShadowCam images with data gathered by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

“With this data we can map out local and seasonal temperatures,” Dr. Williams said. That, in turn, can help scientists understand the stability of water and carbon dioxide ices in the crater.

Researchers will have to wait several months for the science to begin. The spacecraft is taking a long, energy-efficient route to the moon. It first heads toward the sun, then loops back around to be captured in lunar orbit on Dec. 16. This “ballistic trajectory” takes longer but does not require a large engine firing to slow the spacecraft when it gets to the moon.

South Korea has an extensive military missile program, and has placed several communications and earth observation satellites in low-Earth orbit since launching its first in 1992. And it has been expanding its domestic rocket launching capabilities so that future missions may not need to rely on SpaceX, or on other countries, to get to space. In June, the Korean Aerospace Research Institute successfully placed several satellites in orbit with the second flight of Nuri, its homegrown rocket.

Long a source of national pride and symbol of technological advancement, the Chinese space program is taking on a new diplomatic and political role, much in the way the United States and former Soviet Union leveraged theirs.

“We will soon begin to select candidates from those nations for joint flights to our space station, and they will be able to work with our astronauts to carry out scientific tasks in space,” Chen, deputy chief planner of China’s manned space programs, said in the interview that was republished late Monday by the official China Daily newspaper.

Candidates will undergo an initial selection process before being brought to China for intensive training on how to operate China’s Shenzhou spaceships and live and work aboard the station, Chen said.

“We also hope that the foreign candidates can gain some knowledge about Chinese culture because they will be onboard a Chinese space station,” he said.

China built its own station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. objections over the Chinese space programs’ intimate ties to the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party.

While NASA is barred by law from most interactions with the Chinese program, Beijing has cooperated with the European Space Agency and individual nations on space projects.

However, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in January that the International Space Station was the agency’s priority and “we have neither the budgetary nor political greenlight or intention to engage in a second space station — that is, participating in the Chinese Space Station.”

At about 66 tons, Tiangong is a fraction of the size of the 465-ton ISS. It can accommodate up to six astronauts, though only three are on board for each six-month mission.

With a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, Tiangong could one day be the only space station still up and running if the ISS retires around the end of the decade as expected.

China in 2003 became the third government to send an astronaut into orbit on its own after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The country has also chalked up uncrewed mission successes: Its Yutu-2 rover was the first to explore the little-known far side of the moon; its Chang’e 5 probe returned lunar rocks to Earth in December 2020 for the first time since the 1970s; and another Chinese rover is searching for evidence of life on Mars.

Also, the overall risk posed by space debris will increase with the sheer number of objects being launched and re-entering the atmosphere. Current plans of companies and space agencies around the world involve many, many more launches.

China"s Tiangong Space Station is due to be finished by the end of2022. And South Korea recently became the seventh country to launch a satellite payload heavier than one tonne – with plans to expand its space sector (along with Japan, Russia, India and United Arab Emirates).

First, all objects launched into an Earth orbit should have a plan for safe de-orbiting into an unpopulated area. This is usually the SPOUA (South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area) – also known as the "spacecraft cemetery".

There are already some guidelines requiring space debris risk minimisation, such as the United Nations guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities – but the mechanisms for these aren"t specified.

In summary, should you be concerned about being hit by space debris? For now, no. Is further research on space debris important for the future? Absolutely.

John Herbert Chapman, who will gain wide recognition as the father of the Canadian Space Program is born in London, Ontario. He will be instrumental in initiating and directing the successful Alouette/ISIS scientific Earth satellite program.

During this period, Canada and the U.S. build the Churchill Research Range in northern Manitoba, for launching suborbital sounding rockets that will probe the upper atmosphere. Until it is decommissioned in 1989, more than 3,500 suborbital flights are launched there.

Opening of the Space Age with the successful launch of the Soviet Sputnik 1 satellite, the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. The small 58-cm. aluminium sphere, launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on an R-7/Semiorka rocket, circles the globe for three months before burning upon re-entry in the atmosphere.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially begins operations. Two months earlier, on July 29, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower had approved a bill voted by Congress to create the first-ever civilian space agency.

During its annual meeting in Washington, the International Council of Scientific Unions decides to create the COSPAR organization (Committee on Space Research) to extend space research that had been carried out under the various International Geophysical Year programs. Canada is a founding member. The charter is adopted in Amsterdam the following year, on November 13, 1959.

The Black Brant 1, the first all-Canadian sounding rocket, built by Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is launched at the Churchill Range. Over 3,500 suborbital sounding rockets would be launched from the site to probe the upper atmosphere.

Deployment in space of Echo 1, a U.S. satellite-balloon used as a passive communications satellite that was the first to provide a two-way telephone conversation. Echo 1, a 30-m inflatable structure, orbits the Earth at an altitude of 1600 km. One of its receiving stations is in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

After completing one orbit around the Earth during a 108-minute flight on his Vostok 1 spacecraft, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, a 27-year-old pilot, makes history as the first human being in space.

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space after a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard his Freedom 7 capsule. The communication antenna of the spacecraft is Canadian, and is known as STEM (storable tubular extendible mechanism), built by de Havilland Aircraft of Downsview, Ontario.

Astronaut John H. Glenn achieves the first U.S. orbital crewed flight when his Friendship 7 capsule, also equipped with a Canadian-built STEM antenna, circles the Earth three times during a five-hour space flight.

With the Alouette launch, Canada became the third nation, after the Russian and American superpowers, to design and build its own satellite. Alouette I was launched on a Thor-Agena B rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on an 80-degree-inclination orbit, at an altitude of 1000 km. (Official local date of the launch is September 28, 10:30 p.m., PDT.) Designed with a one-year lifetime, the topside sounder will transmit useful data for over 10 years. It studies the ionosphere, the electrically-charged layer of the upper atmosphere that can affect long-distance radio transmission. Alouette II is launched on November 29, 1965.

Launch of Relay-1, a communication satellite built by RCA Limited. The transponder onboard the spacecraft, provided by a microwave group at the RCA plant in Montreal, is the first Canadian-built har