China moved forward with its space plans by sending three taikonauts to orbit early this week (the launch happened at their Jiuquan facility). The crew will work at the nations own orbital outpost which China had to build because it cant use the International Space Station
The reason for having a separate station is simple — Peopleʼs Liberation Army controls Chinas space activities which made US block their ISS access; this led to Beijing making its independent space-base. The military connection remains a key point-of-discussion between the countries
The mission fits into a bigger picture of space exploration where multiple nations try to get ahead: China focuses on moon missions while competing with other space-powers. Countries like NASA in America‚ JAXA in Japan and ISRO from India all want to be first in new lunar achievements. Each nation works on their own space-tech development creating a multi-sided race for space dominance