SpaceX Launch Success Can Be Overshadowed By ‘Surprise’ Chinese Mission

SpaceX has been successful so far in launching an unmanned Crew Dragon, a capsule that’s slated to carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Crew Dragon capsule took off last March 2 via SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and successfully docked on the ISS without a hitch. The capsule is considered the first privately-owned spacecraft to successfully navigated through space. SpaceX, along with Boeing, is one of the two companies supported by NASA to establish its own space program.

However, these American companies are expected to have some serious competition from China. According to Forbes, the Asian superpower has hinted that it could be launching its new space station sometime this year. In addition, it would travel through space via a commercial rocket that is described to be much more affordable compared to other private groups.

The news, which first came out in the state-run Xinhua News Agency, said that the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) will be sending the “core module” of the country’s Chinese Space Station (CSS) at the Wenchang Space Launch Center by the second half of 2019. The outlet further reported that it would soon start space missions this year, much earlier than the previously reported launch in 2020.

Further proof also points to an earlier CSS launch. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) already confirmed that it would be testing the Long March-5B rocket around June or July this year. The new CSS could be replacing the Tiangong-2 lab which will go back to Earth at around the same period when the new mission is expected to start.

The new Long March-5B is seen as the better and more powerful version of the ill-fated Long March 5 which failed to launch in July 2017. It is part of China’s "Dragon Series" of rockets.

The Chinese rocket is the country’s way of getting into the lucrative commercial space business which private companies can turn to in launching their satellites to space. The Chinese space program offers a much cheaper alternative compared to private firms such as SpaceX. CALVT claimed that the Chinese rockets only need six months for production and about a day to prepare for a launch.