China's space plans include a massive space station to replace NASA's ageing ISS

China has been planning to expand its space station from three to six modules in coming years and is touting it as an alternative to the NASA-led International Space Station's (ISS) for near-Earth missions to astronauts from other countries. The space station is being expanded by China as the ISS nears the end of its lifespan.

The Chinese space station's operational lifetime will be more than 15 years, said the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a unit of the main space contractor of China, during the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday (Oct 4).

The lifetime announced is 10 years more than announced previously.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO READ |China vying to control Pakistani media with the help of proposed 'nerve centre': US report

The self-built space station of China, which is known as Tiangong or Celestial Palace in Chinese, has been fully operational since late 2022 and hosted three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 km (280 miles).

After the expansion to six modules, Tiangong at 180 metric tonnes is still only 40 per cent of the mass of the ISS, which can manage to keep only seven astronauts.

ISS to be decommissioned after 2030

However, the ISS, which has been in orbit for more than two decades, is likely to be decommissioned after 2030, around the same time China has stated that it aims to become "a major space power".

Last year, Chinese state media said that as Tiangong became fully operational, the country would be no "slouch" as the ISS moved towards retirement, adding that "several countries" had requested to accommodate their astronauts on the Chinese station.

But in a blow to aspirations of China for space diplomacy, the European Space Agency (ESA) stated that it did not have the budgetary or "political" green light this year to participate in Tiangong, dropping a years-long plan of a visit by European astronauts.

WATCH |Gravitas: 55 Chinese soldiers allegedly died after getting ensnared in a Chinese trap

"Giving up cooperation with China in the manned space domain is clearly short-sighted, which reveals that the U.S.-led camp confrontation has led to a new space race," wrote the Global Times, a nationalist Chinese tabloid, at the time.

Tiangong is a symbol of the growing confidence of China in its space endeavours and has emerged as a challenger to the United States in the domain after it was isolated from the ISS.

You cannow write forwionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE