Space Matters
At a Glance:
Russia mulls withdrawing from ISS and hopes to launch its own space station by 2025
Russia and China open Lunar Scientific Base Project to other countries and will co-operate on asteroid sample return mission
China plans a OneWeb and Starlink like internet service constellation
Stowaway is a futuristic space drama exploring the prospects of human tragedy onboard commercial space missions
The Great Game for Space
International Decoupling Continues vis a vis Space Co-operation
Russia has announced plans for launching its own space station by 2025.
The International Space Station(ISS) is a symbol of multilateral space cooperation, especially between rivals like Russia and the US. However, after decades of service, the modules of the ISS need more and more maintenance to ensure safe operations. This is one of the reasons why Russia is contemplating withdrawing from the ISS and instead focus on launching its own space station by 2025. It is also important to note that President Putin wishes for Russia to pursue a new “space development strategy over the next decade”.
Russian Orbital Segment or more accurately the Russian built parts of the ISS
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orbital_Segment#/media/File:Russian_Orbital_Segment.png
China and Russia Open Lunar Scientific Base Programme to Others
Russia and China are open to enlisting other countries, their space programmes and international bodies/groups for their joint Lunar Base Project. According to the official announcement, the avenues of cooperation include “planning, design, research, development, implementation and operations”. It has become increasingly clear that Russia and China wish to challenge US dominance in space. It may also be fair to say that Russia and China wish to present an alternative to countries that are not amenable to the US-led Artemis Accords.
China and Russia will co-operate on Asteroid Sample Return and Comet Orbit Exploration Missions by 2024
The missions will consist of a spacecraft designed by CNSA which will return samples from a near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa and it will then head to the orbit of the Comet 133P/Elst–Pizarro. The missions will carry scientific instrument payloads and sensors from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
New Launches, Gear and Plans
China files for ITU Spectrum Allocation of OneWeb and Starlink like Constellations
China has plans to launch two constellations made up of 12,992 satellites. The new constellations will provide China with the same internet connectivity that Western satellite internet companies like OneWeb and Starlink envision for their services. The Project is called “Guo Wang” meaning “National Network” and will be operating under a yet-to-be set up Chinese state owned company of the same name(Guo Wang).
Space in Media
Stowaway: Is a futuristic space movie about a ground systems engineer and a three-astronaut mission to Mars. The engineer accidentally gets carried away on the two-year-long mission that is at the centre of the plot. The spacecraft is only stocked with backup oxygen to support three people for the duration of the mission, in case of an emergency. Things get complicated when the primary air supply unit fails, forcing the astronauts and the stowaway to prioritise, improvise and salvage oxygen from inaccessible propulsion stages of the spacecraft.
Interesting Publications and Resources:
India’s DRDO released a pamphlet detailing its direct ascent A-SAT
An interesting Research Paper exploring International Space Politics
An interesting Research Paper exploring Unacknowledged Space Activities