Watching China's youngest-ever astronauts blast off from the Gobi Desert

The crushed vibrates beneath america arsenic soon arsenic the countdown ends and the spacecraft takes to the skies. Flames sprout retired of the rocket launcher lighting up the Gobi Desert, which is past filled with a deafening roar.

The BBC has been fixed uncommon entree to Jiuquan Satellite motorboat centre successful Gansu and we are conscionable implicit a kilometre distant from blast-off.

The Shenzhou 19 spacecraft is crewed by 3 taikonauts - China’s connection for astronauts - who are the latest successful a bid of explorers to caput to the country’s homegrown abstraction station, Tiangong, oregon "Heavenly Palace".

They volition usage it arsenic a basal for six months to behaviour experiments and transportation retired spacewalks arsenic the state tries to summation acquisition and quality for its eventual ngo to enactment idiosyncratic from China connected the Moon by 2030.

Just 2 years ago, President Xi Jinping declared that "to research the immense cosmos, make the abstraction manufacture and physique China into a abstraction powerfulness is our eternal dream”.

But immoderate successful Washington spot the country’s ambition and fast-paced advancement arsenic a existent threat.

Earlier this year, Nasa main Bill Nelson said the US and China were “in effect, successful a race” to instrumentality to the Moon, wherever helium fears Beijing wants to involvement territorial claims.

He told legislators that helium believed their civilian abstraction programme was besides a subject programme.

However, successful Dongfeng Space City, a municipality built to enactment the motorboat site, China’s abstraction programme is celebrated.

Every thoroughfare airy is adorned with the nationalist flag.

Cartoon-like astronaut figurines and sculptures beryllium successful the centre of children’s parks and integrative rockets are a centrepiece connected astir postulation roundabouts.

A immense poster with Xi Jinping connected 1 broadside and a photograph of the Shenzhou spacecraft connected the different greets you arsenic you thrust into the main compound.

Hundreds person gathered successful the acheronian aft midnight to question flags and brightly coloured lights arsenic the Taikonauts marque their past fewer steps connected Earth earlier heading to the motorboat site.

The brass set strikes up Ode to the Motherland arsenic young children, kept up precocious for the occasion, their cheeks adorned with the Chinese flag, each outcry successful afloat song.

This is simply a infinitesimal of nationalist pride.

The aviator of this mission, Cai Xuzhe, is simply a seasoned but he’s travelling with a caller procreation of Chinese-trained taikonauts calved successful 1990 – including China’s archetypal pistillate abstraction engineer, Wang Haoze.

“Their youthful vigor has made maine consciousness younger and adjacent much confident,” helium told the gathered media up of take-off.

“Inspired by dreams that spark glory, and by glory that ignites caller dreams, we guarantee the enactment and the radical that we volition enactment existent to our mission, with our hearts and minds afloat devoted. We volition strive to execute caller accomplishments successful China’s crewed abstraction programme.”

Standing to his left, beaming, is Song Lingdong.

He recalls watching 1 of China’s archetypal abstraction presumption missions arsenic a 13-year-old with “excitement and awe”. He chose to go a aviator successful the anticipation that this is however helium could service his country.

All 3 convey their heavy consciousness of nationalist pride, and authorities media has emphasised that this volition beryllium its “youngest crew” to date.

The connection is clear: this is simply a caller procreation of abstraction travellers and an concern successful the country’s future.

China has already selected its adjacent radical of astronauts and they volition bid for imaginable lunar missions arsenic good arsenic to unit the abstraction station.

“I americium determined not to fto down the spot placed successful me,” says Song. “I volition strive to marque our country’s sanction radiance erstwhile again successful space.”

China’s sanction has been "shining brightly" a batch lately erstwhile it comes to headlines astir its abstraction programme.

Earlier this year, the state achieved a historical archetypal by retrieving stone and ungraded samples from the acold broadside of the Moon.

In 2021, China safely landed a spacecraft connected Mars and released its Zhurong rover – becoming conscionable the 2nd federation to bash so.

China besides has a fleet of satellites successful abstraction and has plans for galore more.

In August it launched the archetypal 18 of what it hopes volition yet beryllium a constellation of 14,000 satellites providing broadband net sum from space, which it hopes volition 1 time rival SpaceX’s Starlink.

Elon Musk, Starlink's main executive, admitted connected his ain level X that China’s abstraction programme is acold much precocious than radical realise.

But others successful the US are voicing adjacent greater concerns, arsenic they fearfulness this exertion tin beryllium weaponised.

The caput of US Space Command, General Stephen Whiting, told a abstraction symposium successful April that China and Russia were some investing heavy successful abstraction astatine a “breath-taking speed”.

He claimed that since 2018, China has tripled the magnitude of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites it has successful orbit, gathering a “kill web implicit the Pacific Ocean to find, fix, way and people United States and allied subject capabilities”.

China’s abstraction exploration is simply a “collective ngo for humanity”, says Li Yingliang, manager of the wide exertion bureau of China’s Manned Space Agency, dismissing US concerns arsenic “unnecessary”.

“I don’t deliberation this should beryllium called a competition… China has agelong upheld the conception of peaceful usage of abstraction successful its manned abstraction programme. In the future, we volition further make planetary co-operation successful assorted aspects of manned abstraction technology, each based connected sharing and collaboration,” helium adds.

But the caller abstraction contention is nary longer astir getting to the Moon. It’s astir who volition power its resources.

The Moon contains minerals, including uncommon earths, metals similar robust and titanium - and helium too, which is utilized successful everything from superconductors to aesculapian equipment.

Estimates for the worth of each this alteration wildly, from billions to quadrillions. So it’s casual to spot wherefore immoderate spot the Moon arsenic a spot to marque tons of money. However, it’s besides important to enactment that this would beryllium a precise semipermanent concern - and the tech needed to extract and instrumentality these lunar resources is immoderate mode off, writes the BBC's subject exertion Rebecca Morelle.

Chinese experts astatine the motorboat centre were keen to constituent retired the benefits of Beijing’s abstraction presumption experiments.

“We survey bones, muscles, nervus cells, and the effects of microgravity connected them. Through this research, we’ve discovered that osteoporosis connected Earth is really akin to bony nonaccomplishment successful space. If we tin uncover unsocial patterns successful space, we mightiness beryllium capable to make peculiar medications to counteract bony nonaccomplishment and musculus atrophy,” said Zhang Wei, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Many of these experimental results tin beryllium applied connected Earth.”

China is, astatine times, trying to downplay its advances.

At the motorboat of a roadmap for its abstraction ambitions, which see gathering a probe presumption connected the Moon, returning samples of Venus’s ambiance to Earth and launching much than 30 abstraction missions by the mediate of this century, Ding Chibiao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the state did not person a large fig of achievements “compared to developed nations”.

And adjacent present astatine the motorboat centre, they admit to “significant challenges” arsenic they effort to onshore a unit connected the Moon.

“The exertion is complex, there's a choky schedule, and determination are a batch of challenges,” said Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency.

“We'll support up the tone of 'two bombs and 1 star'. We volition support our self-confidence and committedness to self-improvement, support moving unneurotic and support pushing forward. We'll marque the Chinese people's imagination of landing connected the Moon a world successful the adjacent future.”

That’s possibly wherefore President Xi appears to beryllium prioritising the country’s abstraction programme adjacent arsenic the system is successful a dilatory decline.

And adjacent though they are bringing on planetary property to witnesser their advancement – determination are cardinal restrictions.

We person been kept successful a edifice 3 hours from the motorboat tract and transported backmost and distant by bus, a full travel of 12 hours, alternatively than permission america connected tract for a fewer hours.

A elemental travel to a affable section edifice was cautiously guarded by a enactment of information personnel.

We besides noticed a ample motion successful municipality holds a stern warning: “It’s a transgression to leak secrets. It’s an honour to support secrets. You’ll beryllium jailed if you leak secrets. You’ll beryllium blessed if you support secrets. You’ll beryllium changeable if you merchantability secrets.”

China is taking nary chances with its caller technology, arsenic its rivalry with the United States is nary longer conscionable present connected Earth.

The world’s 2 astir almighty countries could soon beryllium staking territorial claims good beyond this planet.