China on course to OVERTAKE the US ‘militarily and economically’ in space race by 2045, Pentagon report warns

CHINA could soon be king of space overtaking the US, an official report has warned.

The secretive state is working to become the dominant global space power economically, diplomatically and militarily by 2045, a Pentagon industrial-base group said.

But it could reach that goal even sooner, as the country ploughs ahead with huge projects, including its own version of the ISS and plans to build a base on the Moon.

The report, written by officials from the Space Force, Defense Innovation Unit, Air Force, and Air Force Research Laboratory, says the US must act fast if it wants to maintain its lead in space.

“Proactive measures are required to sustain our nation’s space leadership across all instruments of national power despite China’s attempt to accelerate closing its technology gap with the US,” it reads.

China is apparently pumping billions into research to fulfil its space dreams.

The country is expected to spend $200billion a year more than the US in research and development by 2030.

According to the report, China has a “grand strategy for economic and military dominance in the space domain that extends for decades as a national priority”

It warns that China’s success seeks to “not only shape humanity’s future in space, but a new international order that embraces communism and autocracy here on Earth within the 21st century”.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) – China’s equivalent of Nasa – has already scored some huge achievements over the US.

In 2019, they became the first to successfully land a rover on the far side of the Moon.

“While the United States space industrial base remains on an upward trajectory, participants expressed concerns that the upward trajectory of the People’s Republic of China (People’s Republic of China (PRC)) is even steeper, with a significant rate of overtake, requiring urgent action,” the report goes on.

“The US lacks a clear and cohesive long term vision, a grand strategy for space that sustains economic, technological, environmental, social and military (defense) leadership for the next half century and beyond.”

Nasa boss Bill Nelson has previously said the West should be cautious about China’s space ambitions.

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