--- title: "European Space Agency Halts Plans to Send Astronauts to Chinese Space Station" description: "It looks like the space relationship between the ESA and China may be disintegrating before even being officially launched." date: "2023-01-25" modified: "2023-01-25" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/esa-halts-chinese-space-station-plans" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "ESA" - "the digest" - "Tiangong" --- # European Space Agency Halts Plans to Send Astronauts to Chinese Space Station ![It looks like the space relationship between the ESA and China may be disintegrating before even being officially launched.]() *\Image: CNSA\* ## To he Left It looks like the space relationship — spacelationship? — between the European Union and China may be disintegrating before even being officially launched. As the [*South China Morning Post* reports](), new remarks from the European Space Agency suggest the institution is backing out of its longstanding deal to send astronauts up to China's newly-completed Tiangong space station. "We are very busy supporting and ensuring our commitments and activities on the International Space Station," ESA director general Josef Aschbacher said in a Paris press conference earlier this week, per the *SCMP*. "We have neither the budgetary nor political greenlight or intention to engage in a second space station — that is, participating in the Chinese Space Station." ## Messy, Messy The seemingly-dashed partnership between the ESA and the Chinese National Space Administration began in 2017, when [Europe sent astronauts to China]() for human spaceflight training with the ultimate goal of sending them to Tiangong once it was completed. So bold were the plans of this apparently-split pair that in 2018, both ESA and the CNSA, alongside Russia's Roscosmos space agency and India, announced that they intended to [build a "Moon village"]() together on the lunar surface. Romantic! It's true that [Tiangong was marred by repeated setbacks]() that could have contributed to the ESA's decision to pull out of the deal — but in the end, it launched and has been an [undeniable triumph]() for China's ascendant space program. ## Blank Space Aschbacher's commentary sounds a whole lot like someone saying they need to break up with their partner to focus on themselves, though as an unnamed Chinese space scientist told the *SCMP*, it's not altogether surprising. "This is unfortunate news, but not totally unexpected," the Beijing-based scientist told the Hong Kong newspaper. "In the past few years, Covid and the situation in Ukraine have made our collaboration with European colleagues increasingly difficult." It's unclear as of now how acrimonious this apparent divorce is, but given the ESA's remarks, it doesn't seem like a very clean break. **More on Chinese spacefaring:** [*We Are Completely Puzzled by This Video of a Chinese Astronaut Playing Ping-Pong in Space*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()