As promised, here is the next section. I do apologise if it isn’t as eloquent as someone in the industry for decades – Shaneka Knight

“The next huge thing is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars and bring the animals and creatures of Earth there,”

Musk told Time magazine. “Sort of like a futuristic Noah’s ark. We’ll bring more than two, though — it’s a little weird if there’s only two.” SpaceX had hoped to have people living in artificial enclaves by 2024. But in December 2021, Elon Musk came forth to say people should be living on Mars by 2026, two years behind the initial deadline of having people on Mars by 2024. So consider the impact Covid-19 may have had on timeline issues.

He hopes to make two loops of the Moon first as evidence of the Starship’s feasibility. Therefore, the Moon is still positioned as the first frontier. However, once conquered, space tourism and exploration will move beyond. This timeline still coincides with other SpaceX space tourism endeavors. For example, dearMoon was unveiled in 2018 as a lunar tourism mission where eight artists will travel to space with a Japanese billionaire seeing the Moon as inspiration for creating new art. This moon mission is expected to depart no later than 2023.

NASA plans are also in the works to create a human outpost on the Moon. The planned Artemis Base Camp would support future crewed missions. Under a derivative set by President Donald Trump, NASA plans to send humans to the Moon in 2024 before sending more crew approximately once per year. These plans have now been called unfeasible by NASA themselves, and they’ve pushed the timeline back by a year. Instead, they are aiming to send astronauts to the Moon by 2025. There should be no surprise if the timeline is pushed even further back. The NASA lunar outpost on Moon was supposed to be completed in 2024 though reports are currently secretive; leaked documents say the base will be complete on time. NASA also hopes to send missions, potentially to Jupiter in the future. Currently, NASA is the only organization to have made it to see Jupiter. Be clear of the wording seen, not landed.

In waltzes, the International Space Station. One of the jewels of space craftsmanship. The International Space Station (ISS) was complete in 10 years, with ten missions. It was also a collaborative event formed between more than ten nation-states. Currently, we are seeing fewer coalitions, slightly worrying. However, this point is not my focus, so I will move on. The ISS was built primarily by the U.S. and thus forth has been chiefly governed by the economic giant. Astronauts from all over the globe, Brazil, Malaysia, and the Netherlands have graced its corridors but never from China.

No Chinese are allowed. In 2011, Congress. ruled that Chinese astronauts were no longer able to serve on the ISS, nor are Americans allowed to be in any contact with the Chinese space program due to risks concerning national security. In 2015, this ruling was further elaborated on when China’s human rights violations were cited.

So, China had no other option but to seek alternative space travel pathways. Following the ban, Chinese expenditure dedicated to Space science trebled; they created Starnet with the no village left motto. And Russia and China unveiled in June 2021 a plan to launch a joint moon base named the International Lunar Research Station. The base is currently in development and open to ‘all interested countries.’ Much like the ISS. Potentially, the congress ruling only heightened Chinese interest in space exploration. However, a look at the vehicle deployment schedule shows it is delayed by approximately a year. They aim to begin constructing the moonbase in 2026, which could end up on schedule.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has access to ISS but no space station itself; as of right now, 13 members of the ESA are serving on the ISS. They began recruiting astronauts in 2021 and will continue to do so in 2022 with the hopes of pioneering more European space exploration. Other nations, for example, the Saudi Arabians, Indians, Japanese, and Koreans, have shown financially backed interest. It seems as though Space will be the new frontier. But, first, further rocket development is necessary for this ITS to be possible.

By Shaneka Knight

The next section will focus on Rocket Development.