China Amps Up Space Program in Race to Challenge U.S.

nbcnews) BEIJING — If the U.S.-Soviet space rivalry helped define the second half of the 20th century, China's drive to become a space superpower looks set to mark the first half of the 21st.

On Monday local time, China is set to launch a Shenzhou-11 into orbit from an isolated military launching pad in Inner Mongolia.

Scientists from around the world will travel to a remote military rocket base in the Gobi Desert to witness this latest volley in the intensifying U.S.-China space rivalry. The two-man vessel will rendezvous with a space lab launched September 15, where the crew will conduct experiments for a month — China's sixth and longest manned mission so far.

With the current U.S.-led International Space Station expected to retire in 2024, China could be the only nation left with a permanent presence in space. China is "on the rise and the U.S. is in very real danger of falling behind in the future," warned Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut and veteran of four space flights, one of which included commanding the International Space Station.

Beijing is pouring money into funding the nation's ambitions — which include being the first to explore the dark side of the moon and sending a probe to Mars in 2020, the latter in direct challenge to U.S. and European space agencies.

According to 2013 estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, China was the second-largest spender in space with annual budget of $13 billion — but still well behind the $40-billion U.S. space budget.

"China is building its own capability and their aim is clearly to become the world leader in space exploration," Chiao told NBC News. He was the first American allowed into the Astronaut Center of China in 2006 and has visited several times since.

Despite being decades behind the U.S. space program, China is clearly catching up and using what Chinese experts call the "latecomer's advantage" — exploiting the latest technologies to leapfrog space advancements.

Last year, the country carried out 19 successful space launches — the second highest number behind Russia's 26 and ahead of America's 18 — and it is on track to launch a record of more than 20 this year. As it is, the U.S. can only send crew aloft by renting space on Russian spacecraft after it ended its space shuttle program in 2011.

These advances have not been lost on American officials. A March 2015 congressional report warned that China intends "to become militarily, diplomatically, commercially, and economically as competitive as the U.S. is in space."

"We cannot resign ourselves to the remembrance of past achievements. It is time for the United States to reassert its leadership [in space]," Rep. Lamar Smith, who chairs the House committee on science, space and technology, warned on Sept. 27.

"Over the years, our focus has waned and now China's accomplishments in space have become commonplace. We cannot afford to ignore Chinese achievements and become complacent," he added. FullText