China announces plans to build a Moonbase in the next decade

By Matthew Griffin Space 10th May 2019

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Space exploration and building colonies on Mars and the Moon are in vogue as countries and billionaires vie to out do one another.

Just like the European Space Agency, Jeff Bezos, who wants to also move heavy industry off Earth, and NASA, China has now announced plans to send a manned mission to the Moon and build a research station on the Moon’s surface within the next decade. The announcement was made by China National Space Administration head Zhang Kejian during speech marking “Space Day,” and comes shortly after the country’s announcement that it also wants to be first to build a space based solar power plant by 2025. And if they do accomplish this great feat then, thanks to Vodafone and Nokia, Kejian can rest assured that his astronauts will be able to get a full 4G cell service when they arrive.

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Kejian also added that Beijing “plans to launch a Mars probe by 2020” and confirmed that a fourth lunar probe, the Chang’e-5, will be launched by the end of the year.

Originally scheduled to collect moon samples in the second half of 2017, the Chang’e-5 was delayed after its planned carrier, the powerful Long March 5 Y2 rocket, failed during a separate launch in July 2017.

During the event Kejian also announced the country’s Long March-5B rocket will make its maiden flight in the first half of 2020, carrying the core parts of the country’s first planned space station – the Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” which will go into orbit in 2022, and that’s set to replace the International Space Station (ISS) – a collaboration between the US, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan – which is due to be retired in 2024.

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Beijing last week also said it would launch an asteroid exploration mission, like the one recently conducted by Japan, and invited collaborators to place their experiments on the probe.

With every announcement China ratchets up its focus and spending on space exploration, to the point where, according to the OECD, the country now spends an estimated $8.4Billion on programs – more than Russia and Japan do and second only to the US.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.