https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10886353/China-sends-three-astronauts-finish-construction-space-station.html

Three astronauts dock to complete construction of China's
OWN 'heavenly palace' space station after United States
excluded them from the ISS in 2011

The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket in the early
hours of the morning

They docked with their Tiangong space station after a seven
hour flight

.. . .

The Chinese station is relatively small. It may be
"big enough" for its primary purposes, but it's not
an ISS and apparently will never be. Still, a feather
in the Chinese cap.

Actually, I am somewhat mystified by the scale of the
project. I expected China to deliberately aim for a
structure at least 25% larger than the ISS strictly
for propaganda reasons. They HAVE done extensive
experiments with "inflatable" modules and those are
a cheap and easy way to add volume without requiring
even heavier booster systems. Pump 'em up and bring
the interior bits on later flights.

Missing in action - Japan. After nearly 70 years of
Japan-In-Space movies and such, their launch capabilities
are rather restricted and their space ambitions seem
quite muted. They envisioned themselves as out-there,
involved and relevant ... but ........

On Sun, 5 Jun 2022 23:38:15 -0400, "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net>
wrote:

>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10886353/China-sends-three-astronauts-finish-construction-space-station.html
>
>Three astronauts dock to complete construction of China's
>OWN 'heavenly palace' space station after United States
>excluded them from the ISS in 2011
>
>The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket in the early
>hours of the morning
>
>They docked with their Tiangong space station after a seven
>hour flight
>
>. . .
>
> The Chinese station is relatively small. It may be
> "big enough" for its primary purposes, but it's not
> an ISS and apparently will never be. Still, a feather
> in the Chinese cap.
>
> Actually, I am somewhat mystified by the scale of the
> project. I expected China to deliberately aim for a
> structure at least 25% larger than the ISS strictly
> for propaganda reasons. They HAVE done extensive
> experiments with "inflatable" modules and those are
> a cheap and easy way to add volume without requiring
> even heavier booster systems. Pump 'em up and bring
> the interior bits on later flights.
>
> Missing in action - Japan. After nearly 70 years of
> Japan-In-Space movies and such, their launch capabilities
> are rather restricted and their space ambitions seem
> quite muted. They envisioned themselves as out-there,
> involved and relevant ... but ........

They have politics, just like everybody else.

On 6/7/22 5:22 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
> On Sun, 5 Jun 2022 23:38:15 -0400, "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net>
> wrote:
>
>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10886353/China-sends-three-astronauts-finish-construction-space-station.html
>>
>> Three astronauts dock to complete construction of China's
>> OWN 'heavenly palace' space station after United States
>> excluded them from the ISS in 2011
>>
>> The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket in the early
>> hours of the morning
>>
>> They docked with their Tiangong space station after a seven
>> hour flight
>>
>> . . .
>>
>> The Chinese station is relatively small. It may be
>> "big enough" for its primary purposes, but it's not
>> an ISS and apparently will never be. Still, a feather
>> in the Chinese cap.
>>
>> Actually, I am somewhat mystified by the scale of the
>> project. I expected China to deliberately aim for a
>> structure at least 25% larger than the ISS strictly
>> for propaganda reasons. They HAVE done extensive
>> experiments with "inflatable" modules and those are
>> a cheap and easy way to add volume without requiring
>> even heavier booster systems. Pump 'em up and bring
>> the interior bits on later flights.
>>
>> Missing in action - Japan. After nearly 70 years of
>> Japan-In-Space movies and such, their launch capabilities
>> are rather restricted and their space ambitions seem
>> quite muted. They envisioned themselves as out-there,
>> involved and relevant ... but ........
>
> They have politics, just like everybody else.

They also have longstanding cultural expectations - which
in this case have NOT been met. The post-war VISION of Japan
was nothing like the REALITY of Japan. Given their natural
energy, I find this mysterious.

Hmm ... did the USA kill Japanese space ambitions ?

In the 70s - 90s Japan DID have the money and tech. The
(barely) joke was that they'd soon own the world.