US-China Space Race

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This class focuses on the US-China Space Race through a variety of analytical perspectives. It presents five overarching rationales employed to justify spaceflight in the US and China: geopolitics; national security; economic competitiveness; scientific discovery; and social/cultural impacts. We will examine the history and strategic motivations of each program, such as why nations pursue cooperation or competition in orbit; the national security implications of space missions and operations, including their relevant space industrial bases and supply chains; the economic structure of each program including how budgets are formulated, as well as the roles of government, military and commercial actors; the value of scientific discovery and how space science missions are developed; and, the cultural and social drivers propelling interest in spaceflight in the US and China.