Space lines are being drawn

China successfully docked the third and final module to its Tiangong space station this week, a key step towards completing the construction of its first such structure in history by the end of the year.

🇨🇳🛰️ A deeper dive: In 2011, Congress passed a law prohibiting NASA from funding any collaborations with China, citing espionage risks. The move effectively barred Chinese astronauts from participating in the ISS, prompting Beijing to start developing its own space-research facility.

• With the official addition of the third module, the Tiangong station will feature 4,000 cubic feet of habitable space for three astronauts.
• For context, the ISS has 15,000 cubic feet of living space that’s typically shared among six astronauts – though it can fit up to 13 for days at a time.

👀 Looking ahead… Tiangong is designed to be operational for at least the next decade, serving as a hub for international scientific cooperation, per Beijing. Officials said France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Pakistan, and other space agencies had already assisted on the project.

But things with the US & Co. are less certain. The ISS, a cooperation between the US, Canada, Japan, Russia, and eleven member states of the European Space Agency, is currently set to retire in 2030.

• And while NASA signed an agreement earlier this year with three US companies to develop designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space, some experts worry nothing will be operational by decade’s end.

+Fun fact: ​​Tiangong contains robotic arms, controlled from Earth, that can take care of most maintenance or construction needs.