China’s secret spacewalk is “contempt for transparency”
The Tiangong space station was the site of a covert space walk by two Chinese astronauts this week, the country’s second extravehicular activity in the previous three months.
The Chinese space agency CMSA claimed that two members of the so-called “Dream Crew” of Shenzhou 15 successfully left the cabin to fulfil “planned activities” with the help of another crew member who stayed in the cabin and one on ground support.
Space News reports that some are wondering why China’s space agency waited until after the mission was over before making public knowledge of the newest outing.
For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), less openness implies greater power, the authority to dissuade, disinform, and disarm foes, reflecting traditional Chinese strategic objectives, according to Rick Fisher, a senior scholar at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, who spoke with Fox News Digital. More broadly, “the CCP has no difficulty not alerting other states about its space operations since it desires the position of hegemon and is thus not answerable to any non-CCP-created rule or value system.”
Their first EVA, headed by mission commander Fei Junlong, was successfully completed on February 9 after a cryptic notification from CMSA the previous month.
Since their launch on November 29th, the three member crew has spent over 95 days in orbit.
China’s first successful transfer of a human crew occurred when the “Dream Crew” took over for the crew of Shenzhou 14 aboard Tiangong.
In a dramatic departure from the decades-long trend, international space operations have returned to the centre of geopolitics, especially after Russia announced in July that it wanted to abandon the International Space Station amid poor relations with the West.
Yet, the dynamics of space are shifting, and Moscow and Beijing have taken steps to strengthen their orbital connections.
As Fisher put it, the CCP’s “disdain for transparency in space is already a worldwide concern,” and this danger will only grow as the country pursues lunar goals.
In November, Russia and China reached an agreement to build a cooperative lunar station by 2035, which will include a station both in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface.
They have also planned two missions to be carried out before the space station is finished; one would bring moon samples back to Earth, while the other will test lunar landing and cargo-delivery capabilities.
In addition, the United States has announced plans for a return to the moon in 2025, marking the first time humans will have landed on the satellite in nearly half a century.