The Chinese are hot on the heels of the US. The space race is picking up pace.

• The growing interest in space exploration is due not only to Elon Musk, SpaceX, and other American and European organizations, but also to ambitious countries and companies from Asia, mainly China and Japan.
• In early April, China published its space plans for the next 15 years. The Chinese era of manned commercial spaceflight is fast approaching.
• The Japanese are also not idle. Honda has successfully tested a reusable rocket. This country is open to international cooperation, which potentially creates a field of cooperation for Polish companies in the sector.

China has made no secret of its space ambitions for years. The most significant change in the past few years has been Beijing’s more favorable view of private space startups. China’s room to maneuver may increase with the Trump administration’s planned budget cuts to NASA by a quarter . If this trend continues, despite the U.S.’s extremely dynamic space industry, China could move into the lead .

In early April, the government's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory announced a plan for planetary exploration. The ambitious project to search for life and the possibility of colonizing the solar system will begin in 2028 with the Tianwen-3 mission. As part of it, an orbiter and a lander will be sent to Mars. A new feature is the plan to return the orbiter to Earth with samples collected on the red planet. This is part of the preparations for the creation of a Martian research station, which is to take place in 2038.

Beijing's plans are related to the exploration of other planets in our star system. In 2029, the Tianwen-4 mission is scheduled to begin, which is to explore Jupiter and its moon Callisto . A mission to Venus is planned for 2033, which is to bring back samples of the atmosphere there. Finally, a probe is planned for 2039 to explore Neptune and its moon Triton .

The latter mission in particular seems particularly promising in terms of finding life. Triton is an unusual celestial body. The moon orbits the planet in a retrograde orbit and is likely covered by an ocean. It also shows signs of cryovolcanism. Instead of molten rock, volcanoes spew out water, ammonia and methane. This suggests the presence of conditions conducive to the emergence of life. The mission to Neptune has not yet been officially approved, but it shows the growing interest in astrobiology among Chinese scientists.

The mission to Neptune has another interesting aspect. It is to use nuclear propulsion. There is no more specific information yet.

To the moon!

Beijing's immediate priority is a manned flight to the Moon. Chinese astronauts are expected to set foot on the silver globe before 2030. In mid-June, another step was taken - in this case, a successful crew safety test, known as an escape test. The Mengzhou spacecraft test was conducted from a pad, but that was only the beginning of the tests. An escape tower with solid-fuel rocket engines lifted the capsule from the pad to an altitude where parachutes supporting the landing could safely open.

Mengzhou plays a key role in China's space program . It is a program of the government's China Space Administration (CMSA), implemented through the wholly state-owned China Space Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). CASC is the prime contractor responsible for the design and construction of the spacecraft, which is to replace the current Shenzhou spacecraft and will carry astronauts to the Moon.

Beijing is clearly pressed for time, because Mengzhou is a very conservative design, modeled on the American Apollo and Russian Soyuz, although certain innovations have been made. In view of the layout known from Soyuz, the number of modules has been reduced from three (service, orbital, capsule) to two (service and capsule). Proven solutions speed up work and reduce risk, but it will be difficult to expect capabilities at the level of the American Crew Dragon and Starliner. In missions to low Earth orbit, Mengzhou will take up to seven astronauts on board, and in lunar missions - three.

Commercial flights

Chinese private space companies are also not slowing down. Beijing Ziwei Yutong Technology (AZSpace) plans to test two spacecraft in the coming months. The B300 is to be tested in July, and the more advanced DEAR-5 in September. The flights are to verify the capabilities of docking in orbit and returning to Earth. The startup, founded in 2019, aims for an orbital manned test flight in 2027 or 2028. AZSpace wants to pave the way for Chinese commercial manned spaceflights , although they will naturally focus on travel to our planet's orbit.

In turn, Beijing Lanying Xingtong Technology (Bluelink Satcom) announced in March that it had secured funding for the initial phase of work on its satellite constellation. What makes this company stand out from the rest? Its satellites are to communicate with the Earth's surface via Bluetooth. This is to provide energy-efficient internet connectivity for vast areas, designed with the Internet of Things (IoT) in mind. The first Bluetooth satellite is to be presented in the coming weeks. Importantly, both startups have received financial support from the authorities.

Japanese failures…

Japan, through the JAXA agency, focuses mainly on scientific missions, planetary research and international cooperation, including with NASA and ESA. Examples include the Hayabusa missions and participation in the International Space Station.

Japanese private companies are also becoming more bold, although on a smaller scale than their American or Chinese competitors. They also cannot always boast about achieving their announced goals. The ispace startup reported on June 6 that the lunar mission of its Resilience lander (Hakuto-R 2) had failed. As it turned out later, the laser rangefinder was at fault. The device gave an incorrect reading during the landing approach, which is why Resilience started to slow down too late and crashed into the surface of the silver globe.

This is the second failure of an ispace lunar mission. In April 2023, the Hakuto-R lander also crashed into the lunar surface. At that time, a number of factors were to blame. The lander ran out of fuel too early, causing it to fall uncontrollably. As if that wasn't enough, the on-board computer incorrectly processed data provided by the radar, and in the final moments, communication was lost.

The Japanese startup failed to claim the title of the first private company to land on the moon. That honor went to the American startup Intuitive Machines. The Odysseus lander touched down on Earth's only natural satellite in February 2024. To make matters more interesting, Resilience flew into space on the same rocket as the Firefly lander from another American space company, Firefly Aerospace. Firefly successfully landed on the moon in March of this year.

ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada is not giving up and is planning a third attempt for 2027. The mission has been named Hakuto-R(eboot). It failed to become the first private company to land on the Moon, so Hakamada wants to achieve this success by being the first private company from Asia. However, the mission is in question. The value of ispace shares fell on the news of the second failure. The company's financial manager Jumpei Nozaki openly talks about the company's rapidly deteriorating financial situation, but emphasizes that talks with investors are ongoing.

…and successes

Honda , on the other hand, can boast of success. In the face of problems on the automotive market, related to the flood of cheap electric vehicles from China, the company is expanding its operations and literally trying to reach for the stars. On June 17, a successful test of a reusable rocket was carried out. The object, 6.3 m long and weighing 900 kg, rose to a height of 300 m and then landed 37 cm from the designated point. This is a great success, because the design team assumed a circular error of about 5 m. Let us add that research and development work began in 2019.

The final, larger rocket is to conduct its first suborbital flight as early as 2029. Honda wants to enter the commercial spaceflight industry and offer primarily the launch of satellites into Earth orbit. Work on the rocket's control system is using experience gained during the development of autonomous vehicles.

The Japanese and Chinese space programs are among the most advanced in Asia. While international cooperation is important to the Japanese, China is implementing an ambitious and rapidly developing program, including its own space station Tiangong, lunar (Chang'e) and Mars (Tianwen) missions, as well as plans to send astronauts to the Moon. The Chinese program is characterized by great independence and strategic importance for the country. Both countries are playing an increasingly important role in global space exploration, and Polish space enthusiasts should increasingly look to Asia.