Kiss_of_the_Dragon
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Closer Relationship on Manned Programs May Rankle U.S., Hamper Space-Station Extension 
FARNBOROUGH, England—Senior Chinese and European space officials have been discussing potentially wide-ranging cooperation on manned exploration programs, a prospect that threatens to further complicate the future of the international space station.
Jean-Jacques Dordain, director-general of the European Space Agency, said in an interview that the two sides have talked about the issue of extensive in-orbit cooperation in some detail, without coming to any resolution. His comments, made during an international air show here, were the most detailed yet regarding European efforts to move closer to Beijing on manned space projects.
The space agency's position raises questions about Europe's long-term financial and political commitment to the space station, a $100 billion orbiting laboratory dependent on support from Europe, the U.S. and Russia. Japan and Canada also are partners in the station, often called the ISS, which has been in operation for nearly 15 years.
Mr. Dordain's comments could raise new hurdles for U.S. efforts to persuade its international partners to extend operation of the current orbiting laboratory until at least 2024. The U.S. spends around $3 billion a year as its share of operational costs. Russia, which currently has the only capsules able to transport astronauts to the station, already has publicly balked at those extension plans, threatening to pull out as a result of economic sanctions sparked by the Ukraine crisis.
China has tried but repeatedly failed to become a participant. Over the next decade, however, China plans to put its own station in orbit. That has prompted a variety of maneuvers and initiatives by some spacefaring nations to adjust to Beijing's priorities.
The U.S. Congress has barred American cooperation with China on all space efforts, so any European move to get closer to China is expected to rile some U.S. lawmakers.
Now, European support for the existing partnership may be slipping. The European Space Agency and the 20 nations it represents, Mr. Dordain said, have offered to share specifics with China about experiments conducted on the current orbiting laboratory. Such information, he suggested, could include data about health effects astronauts face during long stays on the station. "We are willing to cooperate with them," Mr. Dordain said.
In return, he said, Chinese counterparts have opened the door to potential European participation in a proposed Chinese space station, parts of which could launch after 2020. "We want to get access to their space station," Mr. Dordain said.
European space officials have long championed the current U.S.-led space station and highlighted it as a model of international cooperation able to survive diplomatic clashes. But recently, domestic budget pressures in some countries have created splits inside the European Space Agency and eroded across-the-board support.
Mr. Dordain didn't discuss the future of the existing station. But his latest comments indicate that European space leaders see closer ties to China as at least a potential option to extending the life of the existing station past its 2020 deadline.
Mr. Dordain said Europe remains committed to working with other countries on space endeavors, "but the problem is, international cooperation with whom?" From a European perspective, he said, "we have to be robust" and keep options open with Beijing. "We can give them access to some of the experiments we are doing on the ISS."
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It's good that China develop it own space station, even it's not sophisticated as ISS at least we minimize all kind of political complication, we should welcome any nation that want to cooperate with us in space exploration.
FARNBOROUGH, England—Senior Chinese and European space officials have been discussing potentially wide-ranging cooperation on manned exploration programs, a prospect that threatens to further complicate the future of the international space station.
Jean-Jacques Dordain, director-general of the European Space Agency, said in an interview that the two sides have talked about the issue of extensive in-orbit cooperation in some detail, without coming to any resolution. His comments, made during an international air show here, were the most detailed yet regarding European efforts to move closer to Beijing on manned space projects.
The space agency's position raises questions about Europe's long-term financial and political commitment to the space station, a $100 billion orbiting laboratory dependent on support from Europe, the U.S. and Russia. Japan and Canada also are partners in the station, often called the ISS, which has been in operation for nearly 15 years.
Mr. Dordain's comments could raise new hurdles for U.S. efforts to persuade its international partners to extend operation of the current orbiting laboratory until at least 2024. The U.S. spends around $3 billion a year as its share of operational costs. Russia, which currently has the only capsules able to transport astronauts to the station, already has publicly balked at those extension plans, threatening to pull out as a result of economic sanctions sparked by the Ukraine crisis.
China has tried but repeatedly failed to become a participant. Over the next decade, however, China plans to put its own station in orbit. That has prompted a variety of maneuvers and initiatives by some spacefaring nations to adjust to Beijing's priorities.
The U.S. Congress has barred American cooperation with China on all space efforts, so any European move to get closer to China is expected to rile some U.S. lawmakers.
Now, European support for the existing partnership may be slipping. The European Space Agency and the 20 nations it represents, Mr. Dordain said, have offered to share specifics with China about experiments conducted on the current orbiting laboratory. Such information, he suggested, could include data about health effects astronauts face during long stays on the station. "We are willing to cooperate with them," Mr. Dordain said.
In return, he said, Chinese counterparts have opened the door to potential European participation in a proposed Chinese space station, parts of which could launch after 2020. "We want to get access to their space station," Mr. Dordain said.
European space officials have long championed the current U.S.-led space station and highlighted it as a model of international cooperation able to survive diplomatic clashes. But recently, domestic budget pressures in some countries have created splits inside the European Space Agency and eroded across-the-board support.
Mr. Dordain didn't discuss the future of the existing station. But his latest comments indicate that European space leaders see closer ties to China as at least a potential option to extending the life of the existing station past its 2020 deadline.
Mr. Dordain said Europe remains committed to working with other countries on space endeavors, "but the problem is, international cooperation with whom?" From a European perspective, he said, "we have to be robust" and keep options open with Beijing. "We can give them access to some of the experiments we are doing on the ISS."
---
It's good that China develop it own space station, even it's not sophisticated as ISS at least we minimize all kind of political complication, we should welcome any nation that want to cooperate with us in space exploration.
