A 21st century space race is heating up this month as China and the United States launch missions to Mars.
China launched its mission to Mars on Thursday in an attempt to become the second country to successfully land on the Red Planet behind the United States.
Exactly a week later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is slated to launch its own rover from Mars.
Time is based on planetary orbits, and both missions have scientific, not defensive, objectives. But experts and stakeholders say back-to-back launches show that the great competition for power between the United States and China is now unfolding far above Earth’s atmosphere.
“It is also about prestige because we … find ourselves returning to one of these environments of great power competition, not unlike the Cold War with the Soviets, where China would feel compelled to show other nations in the region what his technical prowess can achieve, “Tory Bruno, CEO of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), whose Atlas V rocket will launch NASA’s rover, told The Hill.
“It’s really about China saying, ‘Me too. We can do that too. We have this technical capacity to play with the greats, ” added Bruno.
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover, its fifth Mars rover, will launch next Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
When it lands, the rover will look for signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and soil to possibly return to Earth. The rover will also carry a helicopter that will attempt the first powered flight on Mars.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, China launched its Tianwen-1 mission, or “Questions for Heaven.” The mission includes an orbiter, lander, and scout vehicle, and China says it is testing all three on its first attempt, where other countries have taken a tiered approach to visiting Mars.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein wished the Chinese mission the best and tweeted on Thursday that “With today’s launch, China is on its way to join the community of international scientific explorers on Mars. The United States, Europe, Russia, India, and soon the UAE will welcome you to Mars to embark on an exciting year of scientific discovery. Tianwen-1 Safe Travel!
But the space race occurs in a context of particularly high tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The Trump administration has tried to blame China, where the coronavirus was first detected, for the pandemic that is ravaging the United States.
Administration officials have increased rhetorical spaces against Beijing, imposed new sanctions for human rights abuses, and last week ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Michael (Mike) Richard Pompeo Pompeo’s clarion call to communist China: “We can’t ignore it any longer” Pompeo’s speech in China is at odds with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy relations with China pushed US companies to the limit MORE He delivered a speech in which he criticized China as a threat to the “free world”, saying that “if we bend our knees now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party.”
In the military space arena, China’s alleged threats are one of the stated reasons for the creation of the United States Space Force as the sixth branch of the military.
In June, the Pentagon also launched its first “Space Defense Strategy,” which accused China, as well as Russia, of having “armed space as a means of reducing US and allied military effectiveness and challenging our freedom of operation in the space”.
“It is an ongoing campaign with large investments behind it in large quantities,” said Bruno of ULA on Chinese space weapons. “And I think this show of national prestige on Mars is related to that.”
Tianwen-1 mission spokesman Liu Tongjie told reporters that China’s goal is not to compete with other countries, but to peacefully explore the universe, according to the Associated Press.
While the Tianwen-1 mission is not about militarizing Mars, it will have military implications, said Dean Cheng, an expert on Chinese aerospace programs at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“The technology involved will have military implications because all space technology is dual-use,” Cheng said, highlighting tracking and communication skills.
“It is a scientific mission. No one is going out to establish a Martian military base. This is not Expansion or anything like that, ”he added, referring to a television program and a series of novels about space colonization. “It is useful to keep in mind that space technology, more than almost any other technology, is extremely fungible.”
China would go to Mars at this time, regardless of the United States’ plans, he added. The timing of both missions is based on the fact that Mars and Earth are closer to each other than normal this year and will not be again for another two years. The UAE also took advantage of the close approach to launch its first mission to Mars, an orbiter that took off earlier this month.
But China’s overall space program is part of the great power competition with the United States, as well as Europe, he said.
“China believes that space reflects multiple pieces of what they call comprehensive national power. Space touches economic capacity, touches military capacity, has an impact on diplomacy, on internal political unity. It is a wonderful announcement for the Chinese levels of science and technology, “he said. “The broader Chinese space program continues apace. And that is absolutely an example of great power competition on the military side, but also on the economic side. “
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