The Chinese government is seeking experts to assist in the construction of a massive 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) long spacecraft that it plans to launch into orbit. The crazy idea is to create a colossal circling ship the size of ten city blocks from components launched one by one by rockets.
The idea is outlined in a project document from China’s National Natural Science Foundation (in the attachment titled “Guide for major projects of the Ministry of Mathematical Sciences”), which describes how the organization is seeking proposals for building an “ultra-large spacecraft with a size of one kilometer,” claiming that this goal represents a major strategic aerospace endeavor for the future of space exploration.
The size and mass of such a spacecraft would be enormous, making it difficult to construct and launch in a single piece. Instead, the plan would be to design and build modules that could be launched separately and then put together in orbit.
As a result, the project is searching for two important components: First, a lightweight design to reduce the number of launches necessary, and second, a sophisticated design that can be done easily in space.
According to the South China Morning Post, the idea will be developed over a five-year period, with five projects being chosen for development at a cost of 15 million yuan ($2.3 million). This amount of money is most likely only for research purposes, as it is insufficient to actually build and launch a spacecraft – even a small one. It has to be for exploratory purposes only, to discover if such a notion is even viable.
In recent years, China has made a significant investment in space exploration. In addition to its Tianwen-1 mission to Mars, which features a rover that China successfully landed on Mars for the first time and whose mission was recently extended, China’s Chang’e 4 mission to the far side of the moon returned a sample of lunar rock for the first time in more than 40 years.
Perhaps most importantly, there’s China’s new space station, which sent its first module into orbit earlier this year and has already witnessed two spacewalks and one cargo flight.
