China shares ambitious plans to double its space station

As the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) approaches the end of its life cycle by the 2030s, China wants to increase the size of its space station from three to six modules over the next several years, according to a new report by Reuters published this week.

The newly expanded space station will give astronauts from other countries a different platform for near-Earth missions and will be operational for more than 15 years, according to Interesting Engineering.

A Heavenly Palace for space exploration

China’s space station is currently called Tiangong, the Chinese word for "Heavenly Palace.” It consists of three modules.

Launched in September 2011, the Tiangong-1 was China's first space station module. It hosted the crewed missions Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 and functioned as an experimental platform for rendezvous and docking testing with Shenzhou spacecraft. Tiangong-1 was declared out of China's hands in March 2016, and when it reentered Earth's atmosphere in April 2018, it burned up immediately.

The Tiangong-2 was China's second space station module, launched in September 2016. A number of experiments were conducted there, including ones for Earth observation, scientific study, and technological demonstrations. Tiangong-2 was also used to launch the Tianzhou-1 cargo ship as well as crewed missions. In July 2019, it deliberately deorbited and returned to Earth's atmosphere.

Finally, in 2022, Tiangong-3 was launched and was anticipated to be more competent and advanced than its predecessors, playing a significant role in the construction of the Chinese Space Station (CSS).

Currently, CSS can only host three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 km (280 miles). However, this may change with China’s ambitious plans to double the station’s capacity.

These plans would bring the structure to 180 metric tons and would allow it to house a few more astronauts, although it would still have only 40 percent of the capacity of the ISS.

A leader in space exploration

However, as the latter may be decommissioned by 2030, space agencies around the world may have no choice but to use China’s station, making the country a leader in space exploration.

Meanwhile, China has expressed its willingness to collaborate with other countries and organizations on scientific research and experimentation aboard the CSS. Some international experiments and cooperation agreements have already been established with more certain to come as the ISS readies to become inoperable.

The Tiangong program exemplifies China's dedication to manned spaceflight and space science research. Significant advancements in China's space capabilities, such as crewed flights and autonomous rendezvous and docking technology, have been produced through the station’s ongoing development. 

In addition, taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, are expected to spend a lot of time living and working on the space station in the near future. It is anticipated that the CSS will have a rotating crew and be continuously occupied with members conducting cutting-edge research in various scientific disciplines.