Center for the Joint Development of Space Transportation and the Use of Outer Space

History

2023: Building a Company

In mid-June 2023, China created the state-owned Center for the Joint Development of Space Transportation and the Use of Outer Space. Thus, the country's authorities decided to develop space tourism.

The project was announced in early June 2023 at the China Conference on the Development of Commercial Cosmonautics in Beijing. The project will conduct flight tests in the field of orbital space travel in order to provide appropriate services.

China decided to develop space tourism

China's chief rocket operator Yang Yiqiang said that by 2025 Beijing will be ready to carry paid tourists to the edge of space at a price of $286,400 to $429,600. Commercial space travel in China will be in full bloom by 2027, Yang Yiqiang said.

In an interview with Global Times, Yang Yiqiang spoke about how the Chinese commercial space industry has moved from the 1.0 era, defined by fundamental production and research and development (R&D), to the 2.0 era, fueled by applications and market forces. Over the next decade, the industry is projected to achieve the same degree of development as the United States. Suborbital flight, Yang said, is more technologically advanced and suitable for most people than other types of space travel. The ten-minute flight will see passengers cross the Karman Line, the border between Earth's atmosphere and space, where they will feel weightless within minutes.

CAS Space said in 2022 that it was working to create a reusable rocket and spacecraft that would require just one launch to reach orbit. Once the rocket crosses the Kármán line, the spacecraft will separate and continue its path through air, driven only by inertia. The spacecraft will descend to Earth by parachute, and the rocket will enter the atmosphere and land gently thanks to its own power. Part of CAS Space, which was founded in 2018, is owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Long Kaitsong, an employee of the Zhongguancun Alliance for Innovative Development of the Commercial Aerospace Industry, the plan is expected to be implemented in stages. Initially, Lunhai Kun said, the goal is to bring small payloads into space, then space payloads and eventually space flights for tourist purposes. In addition to technical and financial factors, the rapid development of space flights in the PRC was hindered by factors related to the selection and training of the crew, the physical condition of travelers and safety risk management. However, recent advances in commercial spaceflight and the transition of the Chinese space station to the operational stage have accelerated the pace of development in this area.

By June 2023, space tourism and space resources are still in the early stages of development in China, local media said. However, in the near future this will become a priority sector for the country's space industry.^[1]

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