China unveils science fiction-like space exploration plan

In the unveiled five-year plan for the development of the space industry provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, talks about ambitious plans to build a real "megastructure" in near-earth orbit with a width of more than one kilometers. It will include solar stations, tourist boxes, refueling modules, as well as a mining enterprise.

So, according to the representatives of the authorities of the Celestial Empire, they see an urgent need for megaprojects implemented in the space space, for which, quite naturally, super-large spacecraft will be needed in order to maintain orbit.

One of the first projects in this ambitious plan will be the construction of a solar station in high orbit in orbit. At the same time, according to calculations, the orbital solar station will be about 1.5 kilometers wide. So, ground-based centers for the study of space solar energy and receiving stations have already been opened.

And in space, the first solar panels with an installed capacity of 1 MW should start working in 2035, and by 2050 the solar station will reach its design capacity of 1 GW. In this case, all this energy will be transmitted to Earth due to microwave radiation.

In addition, China is actively working on a new project for an orbiting telescope, which will be larger than an apparatus like the James Webb telescope.

Also, the Celestial Empire already has its own national orbital station "Tiangong", which already operates in orbit, and in the very near future, China plans to expand it by adding new modules.

It is not known for certain whether the Tiangong will be able to become the foundation for the creation of a larger orbital station, or whether the project will be created from scratch. This is because the NSFC does not disclose any specific details.

And the plan was made public in the form of disclosing recommendation data for scientists on how it will be possible to obtain funding for work in the project.

In addition, the designers were tasked with reducing the weight of spacecraft as efficiently as possible and developing new, lightest, but at the same time reliable materials.

Well, given the pace of development demonstrated by scientists from the Middle Kingdom, such fantastic plans do not seem absurd and unrealizable. But, as usual, time will put everything in its place.

We just have to wait and find out whether a Chinese "megamodule" will actually appear in orbit or whether it will be done by someone else. Let's discuss this in the comments.

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