China's National Space Administration is once again put to the spotlight as it has recently revealed their plans of turning itself into a "space power" and has allegedly announced two new missions in the next half-decade. Authorities of the said institute have also claimed that the country aims to land a probe on the far side of the moon in 2018 and launch a second one to Mars in the year 2020.
China's Plans For Space Domination: How Successful Will It Get?
According to reports revealed by Mirror, a white paper outlining its space strategy entitled China's Space Activities in 2016 have stated that in the next five years, China reportedly aims to conduct certain explorations to the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power which has been emphasized as a dream that they will pursue unremittingly. Experts have also said that as far as the Mars probe is concerned, the plan will be designed in coming up with a soft landing on the red planet before coming back to Earth with samples.
In one of their statements reported by VOA News during a news conference, deputy administrator of China National Space Administration, Wu Yanhua explains that China would like to work with the international community to jointly promote the development of the global space industry, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, the peaceful use of outer space which includes the development of space knowledge.
Ultimately, the alleged policy paper claims that China's space program, which is considered as a source of national pride, is looking to make China the first country to soft-land a probe on the dark side of the moon. However, it was found that China isn't the only nation to have been setting their ambitious plans. Reports have been revealed that for private companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are reportedly planning to send their own space crafts to Mars in the next decade.
