A record-breaking spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut
At 21:57 on December 17, 2024, Shenzhou-19 crew astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong completed a feat that shocked the world - they walked in space for 9 hours, successfully breaking the world's longest single spacewalk record of 8 hours and 56 minutes set by the United States in 2001. In this out-of-cabin activity, the astronauts wore the second-generation spacesuits of "Feitian", and with the cooperation and support of the space station's robotic arm and ground scientific researchers, they completed a series of difficult tasks such as the installation of space debris protection devices on the space station, the inspection and disposal of extravehicular equipment and facilities.
It is worth mentioning that astronaut Song Lingdong is the first "post-90s" astronaut in the mainland to carry out out-of-cabin activities, which is not only an affirmation of the younger generation of astronauts, but also a manifestation of the achievements of the mainland's aerospace talent training, marking the growth and succession of a new generation of China's aerospace industry.
From the 19-minute first spacewalk of Shenzhou-7 astronaut Zhai Zhigang in 2008 to the 9-hour out-of-cabin activity of Shenzhou-19 astronauts today, China's aerospace industry has achieved a huge leap forward in just over a decade, which is inseparable from the rapid development and technological innovation of China's aerospace science and technology.
Relevant reports from foreign media
This incident has attracted great attention from the media in many countries around the world. CNN said on the 17th that Chinese astronauts broke the world record held by the United States and created another milestone in China's ambitious space program. CNN also mentioned that China has made significant progress in the field of space, including the successful completion of a sample return mission to the far side of the moon and is actively advancing a manned lunar landing program.
India's NDTV, The Times of India, The Economic Times and other media have reported on the title of "Breaking the American Record", and NDTV also mentioned that the spacewalk is a milestone in China's space exploration process, and China is expected to become the second country to land on the moon after the United States.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency also mentioned that the Chinese astronauts' move "broke the world record set by American astronauts in 2001." In addition, the South China Morning Post also pointed out that the nine-hour extravehicular activity was a milestone in the history of China's spacewalks.
The significance of this record-breaking spacewalk
The embodiment of technological breakthrough and innovation: The 9-hour spacewalk has extremely high requirements for the performance of extravehicular spacesuits, life support systems, and various tools and equipment. China's second-generation spacesuit can support up to 8 hours of working time, providing an important guarantee for the success of this mission, which reflects China's major breakthrough in spacesuit technology and other aspects. At the same time, from the overall planning of the out-of-cabin activities, mission execution to the coordination with the ground, every link demonstrates the innovation and progress of China's space technology, and these technological achievements will lay a solid foundation for more complex and long-term space exploration missions in the future.
Achievements in the cultivation of aerospace talents: Song Lingdong, as the first "post-90s" astronaut, represents the rise of a new generation of astronauts. This shows that China has made remarkable achievements in the cultivation of aerospace talents, and the young generation of astronauts has the ability and quality to undertake major space missions, which has injected a strong impetus into the sustainable development of China's space industry.
Increasing international influence: The news that a Chinese astronaut broke the U.S. record quickly spread around the world, triggering heated discussions in the international community, which was not only a victory for China's space industry, but also an important boost to global space exploration. China's achievements in space exploration have demonstrated to the world its attitude of openness and cooperation, and it is likely to carry out more cooperation with other countries in the field of space in the future, promote exchanges and cooperation in the international space community, and promote the common development of the global space industry.
Incentives for future space exploration: The record-breaking spacewalk has injected strong confidence and momentum into China's future space exploration program. With the continuous advancement of technology, China will assume more responsibilities and missions in future space missions, including more complex missions such as lunar exploration and Mars exploration. This achievement will also inspire more young people to devote themselves to the aerospace industry and contribute to the realization of mankind's dream of exploring the universe.
The demonstration of the country's comprehensive strength: The aerospace industry is an important embodiment of a country's comprehensive strength, and the record-breaking spacewalk of Chinese astronauts demonstrates China's strong strength in science and technology, industry, talent training and other aspects, and reflects China's independent innovation ability and national strategic will. This achievement not only enabled China to occupy a more important position on the international space stage, but also added luster to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
A review of China's aerospace development
The development of China's aerospace industry is a magnificent epic full of challenges and breakthroughs, and embodies the wisdom and sweat of countless astronauts. It began in the middle of the 20th century, with the strong support of the state and the unremitting efforts of astronauts, it has gone through many important stages and made achievements that have attracted worldwide attention.
Getting started: Laying the groundwork
In 1956, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country was faced with the blockade and threat of international hostile forces, but the country resolutely decided to develop the aerospace industry. Qian Xuesen submitted the "Opinion on the Establishment of the Mainland's National Defense Aviation Industry" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, and on October 8 of the same year, the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense was formally established, which marked the official start of China's aerospace industry. Subsequently, under the unified leadership of the central government, a series of related institutions were established one after another, such as the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which was established on October 20, 1958, which provided an important guarantee for the test launch and measurement control tasks of rockets, satellites and spacecraft. In February 1960, the "T-7M" experimental liquid-sounding rocket designed and manufactured by China was successfully launched for the first time in Shanghai, flying at an altitude of 8 kilometers, initially demonstrating China's exploration capability in the field of aerospace.
Breakthrough Stage: Into Space
On April 24, 1970, China's first artificial satellite "Dongfanghong 1" was successfully launched, which was an important milestone in China's space development. It marks that China has become the fifth country in the world that can independently develop and launch artificial satellites, and also opens a new era in China's space industry. The successful launch of "Dongfanghong 1" not only let the world hear the voice of space from China, but also inspired the enthusiasm and confidence of the Chinese people in space exploration.
Development stage: technology development
From the 80s to the 90s of the 20th century, China's aerospace technology continued to expand and deepen. On September 20, 1981, China launched three satellites into orbit at the same time with the Storm-1 carrier rocket, becoming the third country in the world to realize the technology of killing multiple satellites with one stone. On April 8, 1984, the Long March-3 rocket launched the Dongfanghong-2 experimental communication satellite into geostationary orbit over the equator for the first time, making China the third country in the world to master hydrogen and oxygen engine technology and the fifth country to independently launch a geostationary orbit satellite. On September 7, 1988, the Long March-4A carrier rocket successfully launched China's first Fengyun-1A meteorological satellite, indicating that China is the fourth country in the world to master the technology of launching sun-synchronous orbit satellites and the third country to possess polar-orbiting meteorological satellites. On April 7, 1990, the Long March-3 carrier rocket successfully launched the Asia-1 communications satellite made in the United States, which also meant that China became the third country in the world to enter the international satellite launch service market.
Manned spaceflight phase: achieving a breakthrough
In the early 90s of the 20th century, the CPC Central Committee made a major decision to implement the manned space program and deployed a "three-step" development strategy. After years of hard work, on October 15, 2003, the Shenzhou 5 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and Yang Liwei became the first person in China to enter space, and China became the third country in the world to send human beings into space, which marked the successful completion of the first step of the "three-step" strategy of the manned space project. Since then, from Shenzhou 6 to Shenzhou 11, China's manned space technology has continued to develop, and has achieved breakthroughs in many core technologies such as multi-person multi-day flight, space out-of-cabin, rendezvous and docking.
Deep Space Exploration Phase: Exploring the Universe
On October 24, 2007, Chang'e-1 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, taking the first step in China's lunar exploration, and China became the fifth country in the world to explore the moon after the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency. Since then, the Chang'e series of probes have continued to achieve new results, and on January 3, 2019, Chang'e-4 achieved the first soft landing of a human probe on the far side of the moon; On December 17, 2020, Chang'e-5 returned to Earth with 1,731 grams of lunar samples collected from the moon, making China the third country in the world to return lunar samples. On June 25, 2024, Chang'e-6 returned to Earth with 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples collected from the far side of the moon, achieving the first sample return from the far side of the moon in human history, further enhancing China's international status in the field of lunar exploration.
Space Station Construction Phase: Brilliant Creation
In 2011, the Tiangong-1 target vehicle was successfully launched, opening the space laboratory phase of China's manned space project. Since then, the successful implementation of a series of missions such as the Tiangong-2 space laboratory has laid a solid foundation for the construction of China's space station. On May 5, 2020, the first mission of the Long March 5B was successful, and the first mission of the space station phase was successful. On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched, and on June 17 of the same year, three astronauts were successfully stationed in the Tianhe core module. Subsequently, the Wentian experimental module, Mengtian experimental module, and many Shenzhou manned spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft flight missions were successfully completed, China's space station was fully completed, and the "three-step" development strategic goal of the manned space project was fully realized, marking that China has made a major breakthrough in the field of manned spaceflight and entered the space station era.
Comparison of China's space technology with other space powers
In today's world, the development of the aerospace field has become an important indicator of a country's comprehensive strength and scientific and technological level. The United States and Russia, as traditional space powers, have long occupied an important position in space exploration, while China's aerospace industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and has made a series of achievements that have attracted worldwide attention, and is gradually narrowing the gap with the United States and Russia and other space powers, showing strong competitiveness in the international space arena.
The history and foundation of aerospace development
The United States is one of the earliest countries in the world to carry out space activities, at the beginning of the 20th century began to research and test solid rockets, in 1958 the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in charge of civil space activities, and in the same year launched the first artificial satellite "Explorer" 1, in 1969 it was the realization of the first manned landing of human beings on the moon, the scale of its space activities and technical level have long been in the forefront of the world.
Russia's space history can be traced back to the Soviet Union, in 1957 the Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite "Sputnik" 1, opening the human space age, after which the Soviet Union has also made many pioneering achievements in the fields of manned spaceflight and deep space exploration, such as Gagarin became the first human to enter space. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited most of its space heritage and remains an important force in the field of space.
In 1956, the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense was formally established, marking the beginning of China's aerospace industry. In 1970, China's first artificial satellite "Dongfanghong 1" was successfully launched, and since then, China's aerospace industry has developed steadily, gradually making breakthroughs in many fields.
Launch vehicle technology
The United States is a world leader in launch vehicle technology, and SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is one of its representative achievements, which is capable of sending more than 60 tons of payload into low-earth orbit, and its recoverable rocket technology has been quite mature, greatly reducing launch costs, and providing strong support for large-scale space exploration and commercial space activities.
Russia's launch vehicle technology is profound, inheriting the technological heritage of the Soviet era, and has a variety of reliable launch vehicles such as Proton and Soyuz. Among them, the Soyuz rocket is one of the most frequently used launch vehicles in the world, with a high launch success rate and adaptability, and has made important contributions to Russia's space missions and the transportation of personnel and materials to the International Space Station.
China's Long March series of launch vehicles is the main force of China's aerospace industry, and after years of development, a family of launch vehicles of various types has been formed. At present, the most powerful Long March 5 rocket, with a carrying capacity of 25 tons, is still far behind the Falcon Heavy rocket of the United States, but the Long March 9 rocket under development, the carrying capacity is expected to reach 140 tons, which will greatly enhance China's deep space exploration and manned lunar landing and other missions.
Satellite technology
The United States has a large number of satellites in orbit, more than 6,400, mainly due to its strong economic strength, advanced technology, and the rapid development of commercial spaceflight. Its satellites are rich in types and powerful, and are widely used in various fields such as communications, navigation, meteorology, and remote sensing, and the average life of satellites is long, up to about 15 years, which reflects its high level in satellite design, manufacturing and maintenance.
Russia has more than 250 satellites in orbit, and its satellite technology also has unique advantages in some fields, such as military satellites, but due to economic and other factors, it has lagged behind in the number of satellites and technology updates in recent years, and the average life of satellites is about 7.5 years.
China has surpassed Russia in the number of satellites, and it is growing rapidly. China's satellite technology has made significant progress in many fields, such as the Beidou satellite navigation system, which has been able to provide global services after three generations of development, and has unique advantages in positioning accuracy and short message communication; In meteorological satellites and remote sensing satellites, China also has strong technical strength and application capabilities, and the life span of satellites has gradually improved, and the life span of some high-orbit satellites has reached about 10 years, and the gap with the United States is gradually narrowing.
Manned space technology
The United States has a glorious history in the field of manned spaceflight, from the "Mercury" program to the "Gemini" program, and then to the "Apollo" project, realizing the first manned landing of mankind on the moon, accumulating rich experience and a large number of technological achievements. Today, U.S. commercial space companies are also actively exploring new models of manned spaceflight, such as SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, laying the foundation for future space tourism and deep space manned exploration.
Russia's manned space technology is also mature, its Soyuz spacecraft is currently the only manned spacecraft in the world that can send astronauts to the International Space Station, with high reliability and safety, and Russia has trained many outstanding astronauts in the long-term practice of manned spaceflight, and has a deep technical accumulation in spacewalking, space station construction and operation.
Since the implementation of China's manned space program, China has made a series of major breakthroughs, from the first time Shenzhou 5 sent astronauts into space, to Shenzhou 7 to achieve spacewalk, and then to the full completion of the Tiangong space station, China has become the third country in the world that can independently carry out manned space activities and build space stations, and has reached the world's advanced level in key technical fields such as system engineering, life support, rendezvous and docking of manned spaceflight.
Deep space exploration technology
The United States has always been a leader in deep space exploration, and its probes have carried out in-depth exploration of many celestial bodies in the solar system, and the Voyager 1 probe, launched in 1977, has even flown out of the solar system, becoming the first man-made object to enter interstellar space. The United States has also achieved fruitful results in Mars exploration, with a number of Mars rovers carrying out long-term exploration work on the surface of Mars, and conducting in-depth research on the geology, climate, and signs of life on Mars.
Russia also has an important contribution in the field of deep space exploration, the Soviet Union has launched a number of lunar probes and Venus probes, etc., in recent years, Russia is also actively promoting Mars exploration and other projects, but its scale and frequency of deep space exploration is not as good as the United States.
Although China's deep space exploration started late, it has developed rapidly, with the Chang'e series of lunar probes achieving lunar orbiting, landing, sample return and other tasks, and Tianwen-1 successfully achieving Mars orbiting, landing and roving exploration, taking an important step in China's deep space exploration. At present, China is also planning to explore more distant celestial bodies such as Jupiter, and is expected to make more breakthroughs in the field of deep space exploration in the future.
Commercial space development
A number of private aerospace companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have flourished, not only making major breakthroughs in carrier rocket technology and satellite launches, but also promoting the development of emerging industries such as space tourism and satellite Internet, injecting strong vitality and innovation into the US space industry.
China's commercial aerospace industry has also shown a trend of rapid development in recent years, with a number of potential private aerospace companies such as Galaxy Power and Galaxy Aerospace appearing, which have gradually emerged in the fields of satellite manufacturing and launch services, but there is still a certain gap between the overall scale and technical level compared with the United States. However, with the continuous improvement of policy support and the market, China's commercial aerospace is expected to usher in greater development space.
Talent pool
The U.S. aerospace field once attracted a large number of outstanding talents, but now it is facing the problem of relatively aging talents, with fewer local students studying science and engineering, and outstanding talents flowing to the fields of finance and computer science, resulting in a shortage of aerospace talents, which need to be supplemented by foreign students.
Although Russian aerospace talents are rich in experience, they are also facing certain challenges due to economic and other factors.
China has a huge pool of science and engineering talents, and a large number of college graduates devote themselves to the aerospace industry every year, providing a steady stream of fresh blood for the development of aerospace.
International cooperation and influence
The United States occupies an important position in international space cooperation and has carried out a wide range of cooperation projects with many countries and international organizations, but there are also certain restrictions and competitive factors in some cooperation.
Russia also has extensive partners in international space cooperation, and has achieved some important results in cooperation with Europe and other countries.
China Aerospace has always adhered to the concept of openness and cooperation, and actively carried out international cooperation, and the Tiangong space station has opened experimental cooperation projects to the world, attracting scientists from many countries to participate. China has also launched the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Initiative, which has received support and response from many countries and international institutions, and its influence in the international space field has been increasing.
After years of hard work and development, China's aerospace industry has reached the world's advanced level in many fields, and compared with the United States, Russia and other space powers, each has its own advantages and characteristics. Although there is still a certain gap in some aspects, China's space industry has tremendous development speed and potential, and it is gradually moving from a space power to a space power, making more and more important contributions to mankind's exploration of the universe and the peaceful use of space.
China's future planning for aerospace
Planning for the future
Deep space exploration plan: In terms of lunar exploration, Chang'e-7 is planned to be launched in 2026 to explore the environment and resources of the moon's south pole; Chang'e-8 will be launched around 2028 to carry out technical verification of the in-situ utilization of lunar resources, and Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 will constitute the basic type of lunar scientific research station being demonstrated. In addition, China plans to achieve the first Chinese landing on the moon by 2030. In terms of planetary exploration, Tianwen-2, Tianwen-3 and Tianwen-4 will be launched in the future, of which Tianwen-2 will sample and return asteroids, Tianwen-3 will sample and return to Mars, and Tianwen-4 will study Jupiter and Jupiter's moons.
Manned space planning: In the next decade, China's space station will focus on four major research areas: space life and human research, microgravity physical science, space astronomy and earth science, and new space technologies and applications, and implement thousands of scientific and application projects around 32 research themes. At the same time, China will launch a 2-meter aperture survey space telescope with international advanced level, and carry out research in 7 research directions and 24 research projects such as cosmology and galaxy science, which is expected to make important scientific breakthroughs. In addition, the manned lunar exploration project was carried out, and large-scale space science experiments were carried out by making overall use of the opportunities of pre-manned flight tests and manned lunar landing missions, and the scientific objectives of nine major directions in three fields, lunar science, and resource exploration and utilization were preliminarily planned.
Ultra-large spacecraft planning: China is preparing to build a kilometer-class super-large spacecraft, planning to carry thousands of components into space on rockets and directly assemble them into super-large spacecraft. The spacecraft integrates space exploration and housing, and can even be equipped with a space power station, which is expected to provide a foundation for future space migration.
Satellite Internet planning: China Satellite Network has successfully launched the first batch of satellite Internet low-orbit 01 satellites at the Wenchang Cosmodrome, and plans to launch a total of 12,992 satellites in the GW constellation, including 6,080 in the GW-A59 sub-constellation, which are distributed in extremely low orbit below 500km; There are 6,912 GW-A2 sub-constellations, distributed in 1145km of low earth orbit, and the mobile phone direct connection satellite communication mode will be launched in the future.
Plans have been published and are in the process of being implemented
Space Station Construction and Application: China's space station has been fully completed, and many scientific and application projects are currently being carried out around the four established research areas. For example, in the field of space life and human body research, research on the physiological and psychological impact of the space environment on the human body is conducted; In the field of microgravity physical science, experiments such as fluid physics and combustion science under microgravity conditions have been carried out, and these research and experiments have been steadily advanced, and some phased results have been achieved.
Lunar Exploration Project: Chang'e-6 successfully brought back 1,935.3 grams of samples from the far side of the Moon on June 25, 2024, and scientists are currently conducting in-depth research on these samples to obtain more information about the early evolution of the Moon and volcanic activity on the far side of the Moon. At the same time, the related research and development work of Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 is also progressing in an orderly manner, and various technical verification and refinement of scientific targets are progressing as planned.
Asteroid Defense Program: China has launched an asteroid defense program, which is expected to carry out a kinetic impact on an asteroid tens of millions of kilometers away around 2027, causing it to change its orbit, and carry out impact evaluation in orbit.
Explore the progress of extraterrestrial life
With the release of the National Space Science Medium and Long-Term Development Plan (2024-2050), the exploration of extraterrestrial life has become one of the important development directions of China's aerospace in the future. The theme of "habitable planets" in the plan proposes to explore the habitability of solar system bodies and exoplanets, and carry out extraterrestrial life exploration, and its priority development directions include solar system archaeology, extraterrestrial life exploration, exoplanet exploration, etc.
At present, China's lunar exploration and Mars exploration missions have provided important data support and technology accumulation for the exploration of extraterrestrial life. For example, the lunar samples brought back by Chang'e-5 and Chang'e-6 will help scientists understand the formation and evolution of the moon, and then speculate on the environmental conditions of the early solar system, providing clues for the possible conditions for extraterrestrial life. The Tianwen-1 Mars rover has successfully orbited, landed and roved Mars, and the various scientific experiments and explorations carried out by the Zhurong rover on Mars have also provided valuable information for studying whether the Martian environment was once suitable for life.
In the future, with the continuous progress of technology and the in-depth development of exploration missions, China's aerospace industry will take more solid steps on the road of exploring extraterrestrial life, which is expected to contribute to mankind's understanding of this cosmic mystery.