SPACE TOURISM
Space tourism remains the next frontier, and China had announced plans to debut its space tourism project at the China Hi-Tech Fair.
But that never took off, with no official explanation given.
Still, optimism within the sector remains strong
“The development of commercial space in China today, as well as humanity’s future exploration of space resources and space itself globally, shows that space travel and spacecraft have tremendous potential,” said Liu Tianxiao, board secretary of Shaanxi Space Circling Technology, which develops rocket engines for commercial launches.
“This inevitably requires a high-performance, cost-effective, and reusable rocket … Only with such a rocket can we better support the development of the commercial future of space travel,” he added.
Another player, Cangyu Space Technology – which also has partners in Southeast Asia – is developing a satellite network to improve tracing data.
Tracking, control and data transmission problems have long challenged the space tourism industry, said Cangyu Space senior vice president Shen Shijun.
He pointed out that as a spacecraft orbits the Earth, it can only be controlled by the ground station for 5 to 10 minutes.
“(This) is very risky … But the coverage area by the commercial sector will in future be able to connect three satellites to achieve 100 per cent global, round-the-clock, all-weather coverage,” he said.
Source: CNA
