Great achievements
space is currently a new competitive field of China. Chairman Xi Jinping has declared that Chinas Sphere Dream will surpass all countries and become a leading space power by 2045. All of this drives China's ambition to become the world's only science and technology superpower, said Christopher Newman, professor of space law and policy at Northumbria University in the UK.
In March, China emphasized the universe as a "pioneering technology" area that the country will focus on while studying the "orset andolution of the universe".
According to Sa'id Mosteshar, Director of the London Institute of Space Law and Policy, this is very important for China as it can promote technological development in areas such as national security and socio-economic development.
space achievements also have other values in terms of the country's position. Through space exploration, from the Moon to Mars, China demonstrates its technological sophistication in public opinion at home and abroad, increasing domestic and international prestige, domestic legality and international influence, according to Mosteshar.
China's space program began in the late 1950s, but it was only recently that the world's second largest economy began to welcome great success.
In June last year, China completed its own global satellite positioning system called Beidou (Bac Dau), a rival of the Global positioning system (GPS) owned by the US government.
In December, a Chinese spaceship returned to Earth carrying samples of rocks from the Moon - the first lunar sample brought to China.
In 2021, China began sending crews to the country's under construction space station. This is the first time China has sent humans into space since 2016.
Beijing is currently interested in Mars. China hopes to send its first crew mission to the Red planet in 2033 after sending a spaceship to Mars in May last year.
narrowing the gap with the number 1 country
According to CNBC, in recent years, China has been much more proactive in filing for patents related to space technology when establishing some future missions.
From January 2000 to June 2021, Chinese entities submitted 6,634 patents related to space travel, including vehicles and equipment, according to data from GreyB, a patenting research company. However, nearly 90% of the patenting requirements have been submitted in the past 5 and a half years.
From January 2016 to June 2021 alone, the top three patenting requests came from Chinese entities, followed by the US Boeing airline.
This shows how quickly China is hoping to develop the technologies needed for advanced space flight.
Patents are seen as a way to help identify and control standards for next-generation technologies - a goal for China in many different fields, ranging from telecommunications to artificial intelligence.
These patents not only represent the level of innovation in China in space, but are also a good strategic idea to protect these innovations to achieve economic advantages with the countrys space-related technologies, said Vikas Jha, assistant vice president for intellectual property solutions at GreyB.
In the near future, most patents in the space travel field will be owned by China (unless others follow), meaning that China can become the gateway to the use of space technology for both the private sector and the government. This is in line with China's strategy of becoming a superpower not only on Earth, but also in the universe," he added.
"The United States is still leading in all areas of cosmic capabilities, but China is rapidly narrowing its lead," said Scott Pace, director of the Institute of Space Policy at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Relations.
