“To those who have spent decades watching the rise of China’s modern economy into a near-match for economic power of the United States or the European Union, the fact that it should possess one of the world’s most impressive space programs is of little surprise. If the Japanese, possessing an economy a mere third the size of any of the others, should be capable of launching spacecraft to Space Station Freedom, then it is little surprise that China might do far more. However, it was not always so obvious that the Chinese space program would experience the successes it has--certainly it was not seen as a rival when the Americans first landed on the moon, nor was its program always as well-funded as it is today. The politics behind the Chinese government’s development of its space program as a showpiece for the nation’s general investment in industrial development are well-established in other sources, but less attention has been paid to the unsung heroes who turned Standing Committee commandments and proclamations into reality over the decades. The development of the Chinese space program, though its expansion to match those of the West seems almost preordained in retrospect, must be remembered to have sprung from roots that were anything but solid: often underfunded, technologically inferior, and thoroughly ramshackle. This work will seek to explore the program’s humble beginnings and expose the true feats inherent in the modern program’s rise into one of the world leaders in spaceflight.”--
Dragonrise: The Chinese Space Program from Birth to the Moon
Oh no. It’s happening?
Oh yeah,
it’s happening.
You actually think you can pull off a Timeline in a While?
Well, that’s a long story. This was originally going to be a TLiaM, then I decided to pre-write the first couple posts. Now it’s mostly written, and I’ve been sitting on it long enough. So I’m posting it, but I’m not sure exactly how long I’ll take to do so.
Cute. You know one of the major things you succeeded on with Eyes was trying to make the political development of spaceflight plausible?
Yeah, so what’s your point?
You know darn little about any of those highly significant details in Chinese politics, and that the period where this all starts is rather...turbulent.
Yeah, I know, which is why this is going to be heavily focused on the rockets and spacecraft. I did a lot of politics in Eyes, and I just want to write about the fun stuff.
Hooo boy. Well, these should be interesting times…
That’s the hope!