Eurasia 2024/02 - mobil

EURASIA JANUARY 24, 2024

SPACE is the new geopolitical arena Asia claims its role in shaping the future

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Table of contents FOREWORD The new space race – Levente Horváth

GEURASIA

2-4.

The geopolitics of space – István Szilágyi

5. Japan became fifth country to reach the moon – Joakim Scheffer

6-7.

Space law trends in the New Space Age – Krisztina Tilinger

THE ECONOMICS OF GEOGRAPHY

NEW SUSTAINABLE ECONOMICS

RHYMES IN HISTORY

Our century’s space race will be about green energy – Zoltán Pataki

The 10 biggest moments in the Space Race

14-15.

NEW AGE – NEW ROAD

16-18.

2T2C: TALENT, TECHNOLOGY, CAPITAL, COGNITION

20-22.

8-9.

10-12.

CULTURE AND INNOVATION

How AI shapes the future of education and labour: interview with Ayham Fayyoumi – Joakim Scheffer

13. Asia's lion is heading into space – Levente Sitkei

28-29.

The magic of space in the Kazakh desert – Levente Sitkei

A Chinese future in space

To infinity and beyond: Hungary’s space programme in full swing – Domokos Zováthi – Flórián Hecker

Developing crops in space – Domokos Zováthi

26-27.

24-25.

From Cat Country to the End of the Universe – Gergely Salát

ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE IN A MODERN WORLD

30-31.

A taste of early Chinese astronomy – András Edl

“The universe is vast and exploration of it will never end, only through consistent innovation can the Chinese nation work towards a brighter future” Xi Jinping

Levente Horváth, Ph.D.,

Throughout world history, there has been constant competition between countries, because whoever takes the lead can have the greatest influence on changing the world order.

Until the Age of Discovery, countries strove to be the strongest economically and militarily in their own region, and then to see who could acquire more valuable new land through colonisation. And with the industrial revolutions, competition in technological development began. These intertwined competitions culminated in the two world wars: Land acquisition, military might, technological advantage, prosperity. In the Cold War, of course, military power, technological development and the economy remained part of the competition, but since it is no longer possible to colonise, discover and acquire new land, the former colonisation was replaced by the development of alliance systems and the idea of acquiring territories outside the earth.

As we have seen in history, the Cold War created two blocs, i.e. two federal systems, each led by a superpower (the US and the Soviet Union), and in the current changing world order, we are witnessing a kind of bloc formation, with the ideological West and the East, which is centred on national interests, building their systems. But space exploration has also become more important. Between 1957 and 1975, the space race between the Soviet Union and the USA began with the launch of the

Director of the Eurasia Center, Editor-in-Chief of Eurasia

Soviet Sputnik-1 satellite, followed by a race to see who could send the first man into space, then to the moon, then to space stations and finally to see who could fly further and further or stay in space longer and longer. This fierce competition ended in 1975 with the realisation of a joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz space flight.

Now, in the 21st century, with the economic, military and technological strength of Asian countries, a new competition is emerging in which not only two countries are involved, but also China, Japan, South Korea, India and European countries, which have already signed up and achieved important results. China now has its own space station in addition to its numerous satellites, and India successfully reached the moon in August 2023 with its Chandrayaan-3 mission, which consists of a lunar lander and a lunar rover.

Although the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits states from making territorial claims to celestial bodies, it does allow the utilisation of resources there. In the course of the current transformation of the world order, the race for resources and thus for technological, economic and military power in space is once again in full swing. Ultimately, it is a question of who will be the dominant player in the new world order.

Geurasia

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THE GEO­POLITICS OF SPACE

by István Szilágyi

CLASSICAL GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS HAS EXAMINED THE THREE-­ DIMENSIONAL SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL PO­LI­­TI­CAL RELATIONS, ENCOMPASSING LAND, SEA AND AIR SPACE. SINCE THE LAST THIRD OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, HOWEVER, THE DOMINANT CONCEPT OF GEOPOLITICAL THINKING HAS BEEN THE COORDI-

Photo: iStock

NATES SPACE.

OF

FIVE-­DIMENSIONAL

3

The traditional threefold approach has been extended to include the phenomenon of cyberspace, which is part of the Aerospace and the broader Infosphere. As a result of technological and technical progress on a vast and unimaginable scale, space has become an integral part not only of our daily lives but also of the contest for power between the actors in the international relations system. Space, as astropolitics, is therefore a subject of geopolitical research in its own right. Everett Dolman, who is considered an inescapable author on the subject, sees himself as a modern-day exponent of political realism and the intellectual heir to the legacy of classical geopolitical thinkers, notably Alfred Thayer Mahan, Sir Halford John Mackinder and Nicholas Spykman. He has therefore subtitled his book Astropolitics, Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age. Applying Mackinder’s phrase about heartland, which has become a scientific catchphrase, to our own time, and referring to the importance of space, he emphasises: “Who controls Low-Earth Orbit controls Near-Earth Space. Who controls Near-Earth Space dominates Terra. Who dominates Terra determines the destiny of humankind.”

Everett Dolman’s starting point is the idea that the power contest in space is as much a contest for power - at present still primarily between states as it is in three-dimensional space.

Like other systems, space, which has become a terrain for power struggles, is made up of different

Who controls Low-Earth Orbit controls Near-Earth Space. Who controls Near-Earth Space dominates Terra. Who dominates Terra determines the destiny of humankind”

spatial elements that are in integral contact with each other. These spatial elements have characteristics that make them suitable for hosting and operating space assets for military, civil, scientific, medical, meteorological, etc. purposes, and for outlining alternative future options and solutions and power strategies for the survival of humanity.

The struggle between states and other players in the system of international relations and international society for the possession of airspace and, more recently, aerospace, has begun. It cannot be denied that the great powers and the economically, politically and militarily leading states have acquired a privileged position in air and space. Satellites in orbit around the Earth are not only used for economic, scientific, meteorological and commercial purposes. Information from space is essential for gaining and maintaining air superiority and for winning wars.

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An era of simultaneity and identity of space and time has dawned. In the world of chronopolitics, the notion of space as a specific physical reality is disappearing and becoming increasingly marginalised. The “traditional” spaces are being replaced by “spacelesness”, a space without a concrete form, a physically imperceptible “spacelessness”. The space that appears in this way can be called anti-geography, or space against geography.

The process of moving politics into the virtual world has begun. In the era of chronopolitics, politics is becoming detached and independent from the real world. In the twenty-first century, post-Cold War geopolitical thinking has had to locate and explore the laws of motion of the power contest in the different arenas of the international system in an unprecedented spatial context.

It is these questions, tasks and relations that are the subject of this issue of Eurasia magazine.

For the full context, read this article on our website!

The author is a Doctor of the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), retired University Professor

HOW WESTERN

MEDIA SEES THE NEW SPACE RACE “Quietly but persistently, the Chinese are developing an arsenal of weapons to challenge America — the nation that landed the first man on the moon — for preeminence in this domain. (…) The point is: Beijing recognizes that space is the ultimate ‘high ground’ and wants to control it.”

(The Washington Post, July 2023) “Beijing has vastly upgraded its space program over the past decade, closing the gap with American capabilities in orbit and drawing concern from officials and experts alike. China’s space efforts continue ‘to mature rapidly and Beijing has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program,’ the Pentagon’s 2023 China Military Power Report reads.”

(Politico, November 2023) “The stakes of the modern moon race are different from the Cold War contest between the Soviet Union and the United States, where the goal of the sprint to plant a flag in lunar soil was to claim moral and technological dominance for a political system. That motive still exists in the U.S.-China rivalry, but now both countries are working toward building an enduring presence on the moon and in cislunar space, the real estate between the moon and Earth. And who gets there first could set precedents for the next phase of lunar expeditions — where countries would mine resources such as water, establish settlements and pursue scientific discovery.”

(The Washington Post, November 2023)

Photo: iStock

We live in the space age, the integration of airspace and outer space is a natural and logical step in the development of air power”

Source: AFP/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

JAPAN BECAME

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Japan launched a H-IIA rocket carrying a small lunar surface probe and other objects lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in September 2023

fifth country TO REACH THE MOON

by Joakim Scheffer

JAPAN HAS SUCCESSFULLY BECOME THE FIFTH COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TO LAND ON THE MOON, THEREBY STRENGTHENING THE DOMINANCE OF ASIAN NATIONS IN SUCCESSFUL LUNAR LANDINGS OVER THE PAST DE-CADE. Japan becomes the fifth country in history to land a spacecraft on the moon successfully. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in its target area near the Shioli crater, south of the lunar equator, early Saturday morning, 20 January.

It landed four months after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Centre off the south coast of mainland Japan.

“SLIM has made it to the moon’s surface. It has been communicating with our ground station and responding to commands from Earth accurately,” Hitoshi Kuninaka, vice president of Kanegawa-based Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA), told a press conference after the landing was completed.

However, issues with the solar panels responsible for the power supply have emerged following the landing, which could impact the ongoing success of the mission.

Before Japan, the United States, China, Russia and India sent spacecraft to the moon. Thanks to innovative vision-based navigation technology, SLIM was able to land much more accurately than its predecessors, landing on the moon with an accuracy of hundreds of metres – previous landings were dozens of kilometres from the original destination.

Namrata Goswami, a space-policy researcher at Arizona State University in Phoenix, said the suc-cessful landing is “a big win for Asia”. Only China, India and Japan have put a spacecraft on the moon in the past decade. India successfully landed one last August.

The author is an editor at Eurasia

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SPACE LAW TRENDS IN THE NEW SPACE AGE

by Krisztina Tilinger

SPACE LAW IS A RELATIVELY NEW BRANCH OF LAW ADDRESSING THE LEGAL ISSUES ARISING IN RELATION TO SPACE RESEARCH AND ACTIVITIES WITHIN AND AMONG STATES OR OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, LIKE INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS. Traditionally and in a broader sense space law rules are laid down in five basic international treaties (the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue Agreement, the Liability and the Registration Convention, and the Moon Agreement) that have been concluded under the umbrella of the United Nations during the ‘60s and ‘70s. These conventions stipulate how the states should behave and conduct their activities in the outer space: for example, no country can appropriate the outer space or the celestial bodies, the exploration and use of outer space is free, the liability for damages caused by space objects are borne by the launching state, any benefit accrued from outer space should be devoted to enhancing the well-being of all countries and humankind and the ban on stationing weapons of mass destruction in outer space, as well as prohibiting military activities on celestial bodies.

The space treaties are dating back to the cold war and were the result of a space race that has now been deeply altered. As a consequence of the globalised, advanced and intensified human space activities, there is a necessity of a more developed and sophisticated legal environment. In this New The James Webb Space Telescope

Photo: AFP/Science Photo James Vaughan

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Space Age the challenge of space law legislation is how to apply the already existing space law principles to the new commercialisation-induced space activities that have not been addressed before. These include, among others, how to deal with the issue of space debris, space traffic management, or the exploitation of natural resources of the outer space.

Although the international lawmaking is on hold due to the hardship of reaching consensus within the international community, space law reacted to the above demand with growing number of unconventional legal instruments: non-binding declarations, guidelines, opinions, statements (soft law), bi- and multilateral agreements, as well as with the increasing importance and significance of national legislations.

The space law trends are twofold: on one hand, the national space legislations are increasing and becoming more detailed in order to assist and encourage the involvement of the private sector in space activities, and on the other hand the international lawmaking is lagging behind, but getting prepared for the changed demand with facilitating international cooperation.

The author is Space Policy Advisor at the Institute of Space Law and Policy at the Ludovika University of Public Service (NKE)

The European Union is working on an EU Space Law draft aiming to set up common EU rules addressing the safety, resilience and sustainability of space activities and operations.

The STAR (Space Transformation and Reliability) Act in the USA aims to extend the legislative moratorium for certain legal rules for commercial spaceflights.

The United Kingdom just modified its Space Industry Act: by decreasing the compulsory insurance amount the costs of rocket launches have been lowered and therefore encourages the commercial space activities.

Changes to Australia’s Space Rules facilitate the faster and cheaper professional review of certain documents necessary for launch permits and the return authorisations of rockets.

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The Economics of Geography

Developing crops in space

by Domokos Zováthi

SENDING SEEDS ON SHORT SPACE MISSIONS WILL HELP SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NEW CROP VARIETIES THAT THRIVE IN CHANGING CLIMATES. CHINA IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS RESEARCH, AND MORE RESILIENT FOOD IS A VITAL PART OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN IN A WORLD PLAGUED BY GLOBAL WARMING AND OVERPOPULATION. The wheat variety known as Luyuan 502 is China’s second most widely cultivated cereal. However, it has a very important and special feature: it is grown not on Earth but in space, at an altitude of nearly 340 kilometres. The aim of space-induced mutation of seeds, known as space mutagenesis, is to find new varieties that can adapt to changing terrestrial conditions associated with climate change.

This is possible because in the unique low-gravity environment, changes in their DNA were detected that gave them new traits, such as better tolerance to drought and resistance to certain diseases. Other positive effects include making plants tougher, able to withstand more extreme conditions, grow faster or require less water. When they are brought back to Earth, the seeds of these space-bred plants are carefully filtered and further bred to produce viable varieties of the most popular and important plants.

Liu Luxiang, China’s leading expert on space mutagenesis, told the BBC earlier that Luyuan 502 is a real success story, with very high yield potential and adaptability, yielding 11 per cent higher than the standard wheat variety grown in China, and also

more resistant to pests. It can also be grown in a wide range of areas under different conditions.

According to Liu, it is just one of more than 200 varieties of space mutants that have been created in China in the past 30 years. In addition to wheat, Chinese scientists have produced space-grown rice, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, sesame, cotton, watermelon, tomatoes, sweet peppers and more. Vegetable varieties.

China’s emergence as a global space power in recent decades has enabled it to send thousands of seeds into orbit. In 2006, in the mid-2000s, the country launched its largest-ever batch of seeds more than 250 kilograms of seeds from 152 species - on board a satellite, including several types of grass, oats, alfalfa and mushrooms.

The area under space-bred cereals, vegetables, fruit and other crops has now exceeded 4 million hectares and generated economic benefits of more than 200 billion yuan - $30.51 billion. Research is not stopping, and seeds need further improvement, especially in disease resistance, using conventional seeds.

The author is a journalist and editor

Researchers carry rice seedlings developed from seeds that had made a round trip to the moon aboard the Chang'e 5 probe

Photo: AFP/NurPhoto

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SWEET PEPPER FROM THE SKY

Photo: iStock

China has been experimenting with space mutagenesis since 1987, and is the only country in the world to use the technique consistently. Since then, it has carried out dozens of missions to deliver seeds into orbit. Chinese scientists released the first space-bred crop - a sweet pepper variety called Yujiao 1 - in 1990. Compared to conventional sweet pepper varieties grown in China, Yujiao 1 produces much larger fruit and is more disease resistant.

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HOW AI SHAPES — the future — OF EDUCATION AND LABOUR

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by Joakim Scheffer Photos: Róbert Hegedüs

“THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES HAS INTEGRATED

ADVANCED

TECHNOLO-

GIES INTO THE EDUCATION SYSTEM, WHILE IN PARALLEL RAISING QUALITY STANDARDS BY ESTABLISHING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

– Advanced technology is also radically changing the labour market, with many jobs disappearing or being transformed. What trends could be expected in the future?

– Digitalisation is impacting the workforce and facilitating the disappearance of routine jobs.

Emerging technologies are increasingly able to perform administrative routine tasks efficiently.

BRINGING GLOBAL EXPERTISE AND DIVERSITY TO THE LOCAL EDUCATION SYSTEM”, AYHAM FAYYOUMI, EDUCATION AND SKILL DIRECTOR AT PWC MIDDLE EAST, EDUCATION & SKILLS PRACTICE TOLD US AT THE BUDAPEST EURASIA FORUM.

– The rapid development of technology and AI is affecting our lives in every aspect, education is no exception. How should education systems integrate and adapt to these new circumstances?

– Emerging technologies, and in particular Artificial Intelligence (AI), have impacted business and society. This impact is expected to be enormous as capabilities expand, AI’s reach and ease of use makes it more democratic. That being said, AI and other emerging technologies have impacted education by moving traditional online education practices to more intelligent digital education practices. These technologies have enabled a deeper level of understanding of the learners’ weaknesses and strengths and allowed for adaptive learning systems and personalised learning experiences to emerge. However, for education integration to effectively occur, educators need to be upskilled in their technological and pedagogical knowledge of AI-based tools.

Governments are exploring new policy options to ensure a future workforce characterised by collaborations between ‘brains’ and ‘bots’”

As “machines” become more and more intelligent, businesses will be increasingly reliant on these intelligent machines. This can potentially lead to a huge decline in employment and disruption of the workforce. Alternatively, with these changes we are likely to see a rise in the demand for new skills and professionals, for example app programmers, digital marketing managers, cybersecurity experts, digital privacy lawyers and data scientists.

– The UAE has emerged as a leading country regarding innovations in the past years. How is the country addressing the challenges its education system and labour market are facing?

– The UAE, among several countries in the region, has been working on diversifying its economy, moving away from the reliance on oil. In particular, several investments have been made in sectors like technology, renewable energy, and tourism. In par-

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AI in space exploration The role of teachers in the successful integration of AI should not be downplayed”

allel, the government has also implemented several upskilling programs to bridge the gap between current skills and market requirements. Moreover, the UAE has placed a strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, positioning itself as a hub for innovation. In-line with global trends, the UAE has also been focusing on STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – education to prepare students from an early age for careers in technology and innovation.

The author is an editor at Eurasia

Artificial intelligence is proving itself to be outstandingly helpful with solving a number of problems related to space exploration. For example, according to Forbes, AI is used during take-off and landing of spacecraft to automate engine operations; a robot called CIMON 2 serves as an Alexa-style virtual assistant for astronauts; Mars Rovers are exploring the surface of the red planet and AI is used to examine the surface of the Moon to identify the best potential landing sites. Astronomers also use AI to map the universe, for example, research carried out in Japan using AI supercomputers has successfully created simulated maps that match the universe that we already know to exist, Forbes added.

ASIA'S LION IS HEADING INTO

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by Levente Sitkei

No country would currently be able to send a man to the moon. Astonishingly, this technology, which is more than 50 years old, has been forgotten by NASA and Roscosmos, and the Chinese, Europeans, Japanese and Indians have never had it. "NASA or Roscosmos is a factory. It cannot think like a small research institute. And revolutionary thinking is exactly what is needed to create revolutionary solutions," said a NASA employee who asked not to be named when contacted. And a lot of money, but money that gets results.

Since the results of space research are extremely diverse, and some of them are for military purposes, they are clearly classified and can be outsourced. For Singapore, with the world's second busiest port after Shanghai, this is not only a good business opportunity, but also a much-needed one to coordinate ships.

Singapore has been more seriously involved in space exploration, particularly its theoretical and technological foundations, for about fifteen years.

Space exploration is an industry that has always been very expensive and taxpayers everywhere have always been shocked by the billions spent on what seems like a spectacular investment. At the time of the first moon landing in 1969, only 53 per cent of the American public supported continued exploration. The result of international cooperation is that

“Revolutionary thinking is needed to create revolutionary solutions”

not only are costs spread, but private sector involvement makes research more efficient, as there is no perpetual money spigot pouring billions into the strategic sector. At the same time, the involvement of smaller states and private companies also means that military research is relegated to the background, or perhaps tried to be done differently, with no one outsourcing military secrets to an unknown private company.

The author is a foreign policy journalist

Photo: iStock

IN A BUSINESS WORTH CLOSE TO A THOUSAND BILLION DOLLARS, SMALL COUNTRIES ARE CLAIMING A PLACE FOR THEMSELVES, WITH SINGAPORE STANDING OUT.

New Sustainable Economics The the ZhuRi's ground verification facility on the south campus of Xidian University in Xi'an

OUR CENTURY’S SPACE RACE WILL BE ABOUT

green energy

by Zoltán Pataki

“There is already a race between major powers to harvest the practically infinite energy of the sun”

Photo: AFP/Xinhua, Xidian University

IN RECENT YEARS, THE SO-CALLED ENERGY TRANSITION USHERED IN A NEW ERA OF GEOPOLITICAL RIVALRY. THE RACE TO DECARBONIZE ECONOMIES WILL OPEN THE THIRD DIMENSION OF GEOPOLITICS, WHICH WILL BE IN SPACE. WHILE MINING IN OUTER SPACE STILL SEEMS FAR-FETCHED, THERE IS ANOTHER AREA ON THE HORIZON THAT SEEMS MUCH MORE PROMISING: SPACE-BASED SOLAR ENERGY.

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In short, harvesting the sun’s energy is achieved by attaching solar panels to satellites flying 36,000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, without interference from the atmosphere, and in constant sunlight. This energy is then converted into microwaves, which are beamed through the atmosphere to a receiving antenna, where they are reconverted into electricity to be distributed through the energy grid.

Researchers in China, the US, the UK, Japan as well as South Korea and Europe are all studying its feasibility, with a view to possibly launching experiments into space before the end of the decade. China now leads the world in most non-hydrocarbon-based energy production, including wind, solar, hydropower and nuclear power, as well as battery and EV production.

And the country is eyeing completing a gigawatt-level space-based power station. China’s ZhuRi programme – translated as “chase the sun” – has plans to put a pilot power plant into orbit generating 20 megawatts of power by 2035. Construction of an early experimental space power plant has begun in the inland city of Chongqing. Chinese scientists first planned to build and launch small to medium-sized solar power stations to be launched into the stratosphere to generate electricity until 2025. The next step will be a Megawatt-level space solar power station, slated for construction in 2030. This means China is expected to become the first country to build a space solar power station with practical value.

Besides China, Japan is another Asian country that is leading in research in this field. In the 1980s, it was the first nation in the world to transmit power via microwaves in space successfully.

Of course, there are tremendous technical challenges to be overcome, including the manufacturing of a power station; one satellite is expected to be 1000 tonnes. For comparison, the biggest man-made object in space now, the International Space Station (ISS), is “only” 400 tons. Researchers are examining whether a space factory using robots and 3D printing technology could construct a power station in space to overcome the problem of launching heavy structures from Earth.

Other solutions can be the use of reusable rockets, just like Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s rockets or the Chinese Space Epoch’s rockets.

The author is a foreign policy journalist

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New Age – New Road

a Chinese future in space CHINA’S SPACE PROGRAMME HAS EXPERIENCED REMARKABLE ADVANCEMENTS OVER THE YEARS, ESTABLISHING ITSELF AS A KEY PLAYER IN THE GLOBAL SPACE ARENA.

Image taken by a camera released from China's Zhurong Mars rover showing the rover and the landing platform on the surface of Mars

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China’s space journey began in the 1950s, but it gained momentum in the 1990s with the establishment of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in 1993. The Shenzhou programme marked a crucial phase, with the launch of Shenzhou 5 in 2003 carrying China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, making the nation the third to independently send humans into space.

The Shenzhou 16 crew consisting of three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on 31 October 2023. This mission has laid a good foundation for the subsequent development and construction of the crewed spaceflight programme and large-scale space science experiments. A few days earlier, three Chinese astronauts lifted off on the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center deep in the Gobi Desert, heading for the Tiangong

space station for a six-month stay. They are the youngest crew China has ever sent to space – with an average age of 38. On 21 December, they embarked on their first extravehicular activity (space walk) to address minor damage to a Tiangong space station solar array.

CHANG’E China’s lunar exploration programme, Chang’e, has been a standout success. The Chang’e-1 mission in 2007 marked China’s first lunar orbiter, followed by Chang’e-2 in 2010, which conducted high-resolution mapping. The Chang’e-3 mission in 2013 achieved the historic feat of landing a rover, Yutu, on the moon’s surface. Subsequent missions, including Chang’e-4 in 2019 and Chang’e-5 in 2020, furthered lunar exploration, including the first-ever successful sample return mission.

Photo: AFP/Xinhua, Jin Liwang

SHENZHOU

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TIANWEN

TIANGONG China’s Tiangong programme focuses on constructing and operating a modular space station. The Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space labs served as crucial precursors. In 2021, China launched the core module, Tianhe, initiating the assembly of the Tiangong space station. The completed station is expected to facilitate long-term human presence in space, scientific experiments, and international collaboration.

LONG MARCH China’s Long March rocket series cater to various payload requirements, showcasing China’s robust launch vehicle technology. In July 2023, the Long March series carrier rockets have set a new record of 150 consecutive successful launches.

RUSSIA TO BUILD ITS OWN SPACE STATION The Russian Orbital Station (ROS) as a key element of the country’s future sovereign infrastructure for human space flights is scheduled for its deployment in 2027, Roscosmos Chief Yury Borisov said last January.

Russia announced its planned departure from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022. Roscosmos and China National Space Administration (CNSA) inked a deal in November 2022 stipulating bilateral space cooperation in 2023-2027. According to Borisov, ROS may receive its own name, like its predecessors Salyut, Almaz and Mir, and there is a possibility of holding a public debate to choose it. Russia’s first moon probe since Luna-24 in 1976, Luna-25 crashed into the moon in August last year, but according to Roscosmos, Russia is set to restart its lunar exploration programme, and this failure won’t change that vision.

INDIA REACHES THE MOON

Photo: AFP/Arun Sankar

Photo: AFP/Xinhua, Wang Jiangbo

China entered the Martian exploration domain with the Tianwen-1 mission, launched in 2020. Combining an orbiter, lander, and rover, Tianwen-1 aimed to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, and search for signs of past life. The successful landing of the Zhurong rover in May 2021 marked China as the second country to achieve a Mars surface mission, demonstrating its technological prowess in interplanetary exploration.

The combination of the Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket

India has achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole. This groundbreaking achievement underscores the country’s growing prominence as a space power, marking a significant step as it embarks on more ambitious missions and welcomes private investment into its space programs. In August 2023, the landing module of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-3 mission touched down on the lunar surface, captivating millions in the world’s most populous nation who witnessed the event live.

INSTITUTE

2T2 C: Ta l e n t , Te c h n o l o g y,C a p i t a l , C o g n i t i o n

To infinity and beyond: Hungary’s space programme in full swing

by Domokos Zováthi

Source: Katalin Novák's Facebook page

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Hungarian President Katalin Novák and Ministerial Commissioner Orsolya Ferencz with the candidates, Gyula Cserényi, Ádám Schlégl, Tibor Kapu and András Szakály

SPACE TECHNOLOGY IS BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INDUSTRIES OF THE 21ST CENTURY, WITH A RANGE OF GLOBAL SERVICES BASED ON THIS TECHNOLOGY. IN 2021, THE HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTED ITS SPACE STRATEGY, WHICH SETS OUT SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS KNOWLEDGE-BASED SECTOR. HUNOR IS A PART OF THIS STRATEGY.

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Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, announced in March 2023 that one of the four astronaut candidates under the Hunor Hungarian Astronaut Programme will join the ESA-accredited crew of astronauts on board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in late 2024 or early 2025. The Hungarian astronaut will carry out research work, to which various Hungarian space industry players will contribute by designing experiments and providing the equipment needed to carry them out.

“It is in Hungary’s strategic interest to maintain and develop its competences for space activities, to strive to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive international space environment, building on its decades-long tradition in the industry” The astronaut candidates have undergone a rigorous selection process, which has resulted in the selection of four outstanding specialists in the following four fields from a large number of applicants (16 per cent of whom were women).

András Szakály, an aeronautical design engineer, stressed that the scientific potential of the programme could greatly help the work and research of domestic specialists in the long term. Ádám Schlégl, clinical orthopaedic surgeon, is confident that advances in the field of remote healing will be made that will allow more human lives to be saved as a result of research in space. Electrical engineer Gyula Cserényi appreciated the seriousness of the decision-making situations that arise when in space, adding that for him, the feeling of security comes from not being given an order that he would not carry out himself. Develop-

ment Engineer Tibor Kapu said that they still have a lot of challenges ahead of them in the preparation, but they are all ready for it.

In September 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó signed a contract in Texas with Axiom Space, a company that works closely with the US space agency (NASA), making another Hungarian space mission a certainty after Bertalan Farkas. Two of the four Hungarian astronaut

candidates will be selected at the end of the year to continue their training in Houston.

But Hunor is not just about Hungary sending a researcher to the ISS: applications to enrich the scientific content of the Hunor Hungarian Astronaut Programme were open for research institutes, universities and companies. The programme website welcomes all proposals that can contribute to further enriching the scientific content of the programme.

The author is a journalist and editor

Hungarian space exploration and activities go back 75 years, starting with Zoltán Bay’s famous lunar radar experiment. The golden age began with Bertalan Farkas’s space flight in 1980, when space research groups were established at the major universities and research institutes in Budapest and the country­ side. These groups achieved world-class results and laid the foundations for the framework of space research that still exists today.

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MOON

TO BE HUMANITY’S NEXT CONTINENT

by Flórián Hecker Photo: András Éberling

- What could be the next big thing in space research in the near future? Is there a “man in space” project in the pipeline?

- It is not a matter of the near future, but it is here, it has arrived, there are already start-ups launched on its basis: space resource exploration, or more simply put, space mining. There are many free resources available in the solar system, and exploiting them could create the economic foundation for the coming era.

“There will be no transfer, no plan B, no planet B”

Partnership is more important than ever: the joint development of space research is the key to the survival of humanity, Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research told Eurasia in an interview conducted earlier.

- Where would the first space mine be established?

- The Moon could be humanity’s next continent. It is not scientific or literary interest that drives people there, but specifically economic and security policy considerations. The Moon has large reserves of tritium compared to the Earth’s surface .

- Can human life be transferred to the Moon?

- There is no point in pursuing this idea. There will be no transfer, no plan B, no planet B. The human body is a “spacesuit” optimised for terrestrial conditions. Numerous studies have shown that the Earth’s gravity field determines the way our bodies work, how our blood circulates, how our muscles grow, how our bones thin, and so on. Mars is a legendary target in this respect, except that it has no magnetic field, which makes it incompatible with our DNA. We cannot even deal with the problems on Earth, how are we going to create a magnetic shield around another planet? Our task, instead, is to keep the Earth fit for human life.

The author is a journalist

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Culture and Innovation

From Cat Country

TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE

by Gergely Salát

CHINESE SCIENCE FICTION EMERGED AS A POPULAR SCIENCE-PROMOTING GENRE OVER A CENTURY AGO, AND FORTY YEARS AGO, IT BECAME A BELOVED GENRE OF A SUBCULTURE. A DECADE AGO, HOWEVER, IT BROKE THROUGH THE PREVIOUS LIMITATIONS AND NOW ENJOYS INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION.

Fifteen years ago, editors of a Hungarian science fiction magazine invited me, as a sinologist, to contribute to a thematic issue that introduces Chinese science fiction literature through about a dozen short stories. During the presentation of the issue, my editor colleague, well-versed in international science fiction literature, stated that Chinese science fiction is not bad; it’s worth getting acquainted with as a curiosity, but it will only become truly interesting in the future. Fifty years ago, Chinese science fiction was a hundred years behind international trends; twenty years ago, it was fifty years behind; now, in 2008, it is only twenty years or so behind the international field.

“The breakthrough is evident as Chinese science fiction works began to be adapted into other genres” A poster of the sci-fi movie "The Wandering Earth" at a cinema

I don’t know if he was right, or if it makes any sense to speak of the development of any literary genre as we would about the progress of medicine or space exploration. However, it is a fact that science fiction did not have much prestige or influence in China for a long time, and abroad, Chinese science fiction was virtually unknown. The only work from the first century of the genre that appeared in multiple languages was Lao She’s novel entitled Cat Country (1933), although this was more of a satirical dystopia than science fiction.

The main reason for this relative obscurity may have been that Chinese science fiction served political and educational purposes from the very beginning. In the late 19th century, reform intellectuals, including prominent figures like Lu Xun and Liang Qichao, began translating Western science fiction classics such as the works of Jules Verne or H.G.

AI-generated work wins literary prize Shen Yang, a professor at the Tsinghua University submitted a Chinese-language work, entitled The Land of Machine Memories, and won second prize at the 5th Jiangsu Popular Science and Science Fiction Competition, Chinese media reported in December 2023. Apparently, the professor used AI to generate the award-winning admission. One of the judges was aware of this, but he did not inform the other judges of the true authorship of the text because he wanted to see their judgment. Xiao Xinghan, a science fiction writer and one of the judges who voted against The Land of Machine Memories, told the Wuhan Evening News that he recognized the text was AI-generated. He turned it down because it lacked emotion but “mainly because I didn’t think it was good enough.”

Wells into Chinese. Their goal was to spread the scientific outlook and the belief in the omnipotence of technological progress in China, thus contributing to the country’s modernisation.

The “reform and opening” beginning in the late 1970s marked a new era for Chinese science fiction.

In the 1990s, the magazine Science Fiction World (Kehuan Shijie), the flagship of the genre, reached a circulation of 400,000, and the “Three Generals of Chinese Sci-fi,” namely Liu Cixin, Han Song, and Wang Jinkang, became unwavering authorities in the eyes of fans.

However, it wasn’t until the 2010s that science fiction truly became a mass genre, with the release of Liu Cixin’s now globally famous Three-Body Problem trilogy. Despite its pessimistic storyline, or exactly because of it, including the destruction of Earth’s civilization and the extinction of humanity except for a few survivors, the trilogy was incredibly successful.

Not only did Liu Cixin become an international star, but following him, several other Chinese science fiction authors gained recognition. Living in the USA, Ken Liu played a key role by not only publishing his own works but also contributing significantly as a translator and editor to the success of Chinese science fiction.

A film adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel The Wandering Earth was made available on Netflix. Moreover, not only was a Chinese series based on the ThreeBody Problem created, but Netflix also produced its own version, scheduled to be released in 2024.

The author is a senior researcher at the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs and head of the Department of Chinese Studies at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University

Photo: AFP/ Shen Bohan

PHoto: AFP/ Imaginechina Wang Gang

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Author Liu Cixin meets readers

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Rhymes in history

SPUTNIK 2 3 November 1957

LUNA 2 12 September 1959

M 5

The Soviet Union launched the second spacecraft into Earth orbit. It was the first to carry an animal into orbit, a Soviet space dog named Laika.

The Soviet Union launched the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body.

T h R S u a a re

SPUTNIK 1 4 October 1957

EXPLORER 1 1 February 1958

VOSTOK 1 12 April 1961

The Soviet Union launched the first ever artificial Earth satellite into an elliptical low Earth orbit. According to most historians, this event triggered the Space Race.

The United States launched its first satellite. It was the first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt, returning data until its batteries were exhausted after nearly four months. It remained in orbit until 1970.

The USSR’s Vostok 3 space capsule was launched from Baiko Cosmodrome on 12 A 1961, with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gag aboard, making him the first human to reach orbital velocity around the Earth an complete a full orbit around the Ear

MERCURY-REDSTONE 3 5 May 1961

DEADLY YEAR 1967

APOLLO-SOYUZ 15 July 1975

The USA launched its first human spaceflight,MercuryRedstone 3, piloted by Alan Shepard. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and eturning him safely.

A fire in the US Apollo 1 claimed the lives of Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee.

Vladimir Komarov died when the parachute on his Soyuz 1 capsule failed during reentry.

The first joint US-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz mission took flight, facilitating the historic exchange of the first international handshake between Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov.

3KA

onur April

garin m

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rth.

LEONOV SPACEWALK 18 March 1965

FIRST MEN ON THE MOON - 20 July 1969

Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.

American astronauts Neil Armstrong and later Edwin „Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon while their crewmate Michael Collins continued to orbit the Moon aboard the Apollo 11. The televised landing was followed around the world by 723 million people.

Graphic design: Alexandra Érsek-Csanádi

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Photo: Maxim Shipenkov

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NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara with Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko (top-bottom)

The relationship between Russian and American astronauts is not essentially friendly, but fraternal, because everyone knows that the conquest of space is more than just human”

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in the Kazakh desert

by Levente Sitkei (Baikonur)

Photo: iStock

THIS IS WHERE YURI GAGARIN ONCE SET OFF ON HIS HISTORIC JOURNEY FROM THE LAUNCH PAD THAT NOW BEARS HIS NAME. OVER THE DECADES, BAIKONUR HAS GROWN INTO A MYSTICAL NAME BEYOND ITSELF, AND ALTHOUGH IT IS AN OLD AND UNDERDEVELOPED SPACEPORT, IT IS STILL NOT ABANDONED.

The city and the airport should not exist, given the conditions. As far as the eye can see, and well beyond, there is nothing but desert. No one could live here, nor has anyone ever lived here. Baikonur is built on land where there is no water, no vegetation and the soil is so badly corroded that the pipes carrying gas and water are forced to run above ground.

Yet the settlement exists, home to some 75,000 people, of whom some 15,000 are Russian citizens.

No one in the town owns their own home, they are all renters, as local rules are strict. Baikonur is a closed city, with checkpoints at the gates where the Russian authorities ask for the necessary permits.

Currently, the city is bound to Russia until 2050 by a lease agreement signed by Astana and Moscow, and it is not known how long the joint work will continue. Indeed, Baikonur is very old, the technology is expensive as is space exploration in general, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union it found itself in the middle of another state’s territory, even though the space programme is still Russian, not Kazakh. But it is ideally located. To launch rockets, it needs a vast empty area without settlements to prevent accidents, and proximity to the equator to reach space more economically. Russia is already building the Vostochny Cosmodrome

spaceport on the Amur river, which is located on Russian soil at a relatively good latitude. But it’s not Baikonur, it lacks mature technology and is very, very far from Moscow. Moreover, the entire Russian space programme is linked to Baikonur, and astronauts regard it as a kind of home.

The city is a typical seventies settlement, with a row of prefabricated houses along wide roads, and a few older quarters from the mid-fifties to remind us of its heroic past. The firewalls of the panels are adorned with stylised images of space rockets: Angara, Burya, Vostok, Sputnik, Energia. The streets are named after great heroes, such as Gherman Titov, Valentina Tereshkova or the father of rocket science, Sergei Korolev, who even has a statue. But locals say that, despite the special purpose-built city, people live here as they do elsewhere, going to school, working, and young people gathering in a café called Cosmos. Of course, everyone knows how serious space exploration is. Even in the current situation, which is totally politically unstable, Russia and the United States are capable of working closely together to send people to the International Space Station.

The author is a foreign policy journalist

Ancient Knowledge in a Modern World

Source: Wikipedia

30

A TASTE OF EARLY CHINESE ASTRONOMY

by András Edl

OBSERVING THE NIGHT SKY WAS NOT SIMPLY AN AESTHETIC PASTIME FOR ANCIENT CULTURES BUT A STRONG NEED TO INTERPRET THE WILL OF HIGHER POWERS. CHINA WAS NO EXCEPTION, AND A KEY ROLE OF THE KING AND LATER THE EMPEROR WAS TO KEEP THE HARMONY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND THE REALM OF HUMANS.

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fate of Zhou. Based on such examples, scholars assume the “Mandate of Heaven” idea has a strong astronomical background.

The idea of a temporal system based on the 12 branches and ten stems – the basis of a 60-year cycle – according to legends, originates from 2607 BC. Star constellations – smaller than their western counterparts – were also set up. By the time of the Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD), the number of constellations reached 283, and 1464 stars were listed in a star catalogue.

The first recorded solar eclipse dates back to 2136 BC. They also observed a supernova in 185 AD and another one in 1054 AD. The remnants of the latter

ruled by the Vermillion Bird. In these four surrounding palaces, we have 7-7 mansions, 28 altogether, connected to the daily progress of the Moon in the sky. An additional three mansions in the Purple Palace are ruled by the gods of learning and knowledge.

The palaces became important symbols on their own. For example, the Zhou forces waited until 1046 BC to attack the Shang dynasty until the planets aligned in the Vermillion Bird’s palace. After their victory, they associated the Vermillion Bird with the

are known to us as the rapidly expanding gas cloud of the Crab Nebula. In 1059 BC, Chinese astronomers also recorded the passage of the Halley Comet.

With the aid of advanced mathematics by 500 AD, Chinese astronomers established the length of the year as 365.24 days, which is very accurate to the standards of the age.

This is only a glimpse into the unique and fascinating world of early Chinese astronomy, which still offers a lot to discover for scholars all over the world.

Source: Wikipedia

To aid the ruler, astronomers aspired to predict eclipses, announce the first days of the months, and make an accurate calendar that could guide human activity throughout the year. The stakes were not small; if they were wrong, they were often executed.

To be more accurate, Chinese astrologers – independent of other cultures’ similar efforts – established different spatial and temporal tools to get closer to finding the Li, the all-encompassing order of the sky. They divided the night sky into palaces: the Purple Palace in the vicinity of Polaris, and the Big Dipper was the centre; the Western part symbolized the White Tiger; the North by the Black Tortoise; the East with the Azur Dragon; and the South

The author is a Researcher at the Institute of Space Law and Policy at the Ludovika University of Public Service (NKE)

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The Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope (TRIDENT) will search for the origins of cosmic rays in momentary flashes of light beneath the ocean's surface.

The Trident project will be up to 10,000 times more powerful than the IceCube observatory at the South Pole. It is set to be completed by 2030.

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