Wang Wei, a scientist affiliated with China’s main space contractor CASC and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), presents a four-step roadmap for a space resource utilization project that will cover the entire solar system by 2100. The initiative is called Tiangong Kaiwu and takes its name from Ming Dynasty scholar Song Yingxing’s work Harnessing the Artifacts of Nature. It proposes to develop strategic mineral resources, use extraterrestrial water ice as fuel, create transport and supplier nodes, and create a space resource development system.

The proposal is not supported by the government’s plan but reflects some current views on the long-term outlook for China’s space exploration and use. It envisions the construction of the first facilities for the development of water ice resources on the Moon. Water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen to be used as fuel. These capabilities will be used to expand near-Earth asteroids, Mars, main belt asteroids and Jupiter’s moons.

The project will create routes and supply chains using the gravitationally stable nodes at Lagrangian point Earth-Moon 1, Sun-Earth L1 and L2, Ceres and Sun-Jupiter L1.

Tiangong Kaiu will need a massive resource infrastructure, including supply stations, transportation routes, mining and processing stations. It will also require access to space, the ability to return to Earth cheaply, and a focus on breakthroughs in fundamental technologies. The main objective will be to develop large-scale and commercial opportunities for the development and exploitation of space resources.

“Like the miracles created in the Great Maritime Age, the ‘great space age’ using space resources… will create the next miracles in the history of human development and bring new prosperity to human civilization,” said Wang, the official representative. This was reported by industry publication China Space on August 31.

Wang Wei presented the proposal at the Chinese Astronomical Society (CSA) meeting at the “Exploration of the Universe and Development of Space Resources” forum held in Beijing on Aug.

This concept set progressive exploration, production and operating targets with milestones in 2035, 2050, 2075 and 2100. Wang reportedly said this would “contribute to China’s development and use of space resources to achieve rapid development.”

The offer is a preliminary offer. Budgets, equipment, technological and economic feasibility, legal issues related to the Outer Space Treaty, resource use and many other issues are not mentioned.

This is not the only remarkable claim about the moon and other sources. Earlier this year, CASC’s Yang Menfei urged China to take advantage of the unique opportunities of lunar activity. “Now is a critical time to expand the space infrastructure to the Earth-Moon system,” Yang said.

In recent years, Bao Weimin, a senior CASC official, has called for the creation of a “space economic zone” between Earth and the Moon that could bring China $10 trillion a year by 2050.

Other papers presented at the CSA event included the topics of manned spaceflight, the future direction and use of lunar resources, reflections on the development strategy of space science, and results from experiments on the construction of space stations and the lunar surface.

More specifically, China plans to launch the Tianwen-2 mission in 2025 to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoaleva. The Chang’e-7 mission in 2026 will target the Moon’s south pole and will consist of an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and a “mini-flying detector.” The last spacecraft will search for water ice.

China is building a reusable superheavy launch vehicle that will facilitate space infrastructure missions. Chinese startups, including Origin Space, are working on asteroid mining plans. Source