On 22 July, China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the Shenzhou XVIII astronauts orbiting the Tiangong space station completed a set of assignments including an emergency response drill. The astronauts were launched on 25th April by a Long March 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China. CCTV reported that on 21 July after the crew’s second spacewalk, the operational commander and the crew members commenced substituting an old experimental device with a new one and completing a chain of mental health assessments along with an “all–system emergency drill” in support of the ground controllers. During the drill, the crew also faced “reacting to scenario tasks.”. The Tiangong is believed to be the major and most complex arrangement by man in space orbiting the Earth from 400 km.
 
What is Tiangong?
The Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA) built the Tiangong space station meaning “Heavenly Palace” in the low earth orbit. This was done by launching its parts in three modules, a core module, and two science capsules in 2021. The Chinese Manned Space Agency launched Tianhe, (the first station module) on 28th April 2021, Wentian (the second module) on 24th July 2022, and Mengtian (the third module) on 31st October 2022. The first crew visited the space station on 16 June 2021, in a mission called Shenzhou 12. The CMSA aims to continuously have a minimum of three astronauts at the space station for a decade, where they want to host other astronauts from other countries. The space station has its own power and life support system. It also can refuel the Chinese telescope called Xuntian. China is the only country that was able to build a space station after the US and the Soviet Union.
 
Why does China have its own space station?
China is excluded from NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program, owing to the US concerns over the Chinese space programs links with the People's Liberation Army of China. In 2011 congress barred NASA from collaborating significantly with China without prior sanction and the law came to be known as the “Wolf Agreement” making it hard for China to participate in the International Space Station, hence Beijing’s only resort was to to build its own space station. The exclusion led to China investing and developing its own space station.

How does the Chinese space station fare?
The Chinese Space Station is comparatively smaller than the International Space Station with only three modules and sixteen modules respectively and significantly lightweight. The Tianhe module launched with a docking hub receives the Shenzhou crew and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft with the assistance of a big robotic arm. This aids in positioning the modules and assisting taikonauts (Chinese astronauts), in the course of spacewalks. Tianhe is bigger than the Tiangong 1 and 2 space labs launched by the Chinese in the previous decade and is approximately three times larger in weight. The arrangement by the Shenzhou crew and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft delivers life support systems in turn providing a conducive environment for the taikonauts to stay longer in the orbit. The Space station is accompanied by a “Hubble-like space telescope” with a 300 times greater view for maintenance and upgradation. The Tiangong is expected to develop six additional modules as part of the space program plan.

What areChinese outer space ambitions?
Global Times reported that China’s mission is to explore outer space and enable global unanimity by providing security in the favour of mankind through economic, scientific, and technological advancement. Some of the major advancements include the successful debut of the “heavy lift Long March 5” and some modern-day science missions, including “quantum science satellite and dark matter hunting probe. The Chinese future in the space program seems to be even more prominent, earlier Chang’e – 5 the first lunar mission followed by an unmatched landing on the far side of the moon.
 
On 23rd July the world witnessed the Mars mission program named “Tianwen-1 Mars Exploration Mission” with a combination of the orbited lander, and rover in the same launch. The Vice - head of the China National Space Administration Mr. Wu Yanhua stated at a press that the CNSA will conduct a robotic investigation of the Southern and Northern poles in the forthcoming decades. Plans are in progress by the Chinese space authorities to collect samples from Mars by 2030; by becoming successful the Chinese will vanquish NASA for the findings of the mission.
 
In addition, China also wants to explore Jupiter's system. Furthermore, projects like “Saturn-V class super heavy-lift rocket,” and “The Long March 9,” are still in the development stages. The Chinese Fourth Space white paper doesn’t emphasize on militarization of Outer space. Global Times reports that: “China will continue to step up efforts to become a "global center for talent and innovation in space science", and create favorable conditions for the development of space professionals.”