Reviewed by: China's Space Programme: From the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping by S. Chandrashekar Zhang Zhihui (bio) and Cheng Peng (bio) China's Space Programme: From the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping By S. Chandrashekar. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2022. Pp. xx + 330. Different from earlier books reviewing China's space program history, this book isn't written by Brian Harvey, who lives in Ireland, or American scholars, but by Indian historian S. Chandrashekar. One of the main features of this book is that it provides a clear retrospective framework of the origin and development of various space programs in China in a chronological order, involving complex political and social changes. In the first part, the author divides the history of space exploration in China into four periods: (1) the origins of China's space program (1956–76), (2) economic reform and the Deng Era (1977–90), (3) the end of the Cold War and new challenges (1991–2000), and (4) the growth phase (2001–20). During the origins phase, the main goal of the space programs was to ensure national security, focusing on missiles and rockets. The missions of the Dengera space programs were mainly to drive economic and social development, and communications satellites and remote sensing satellites were the focus. Deng mandated that all defense programs (including the space program) develop civilian products to meet domestic needs, and he opposed the lunar landing project. After manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, and the International Space Station, space science began to receive more attention, with space technology and space applications. In the second part of the book, the author introduces China's space capabilities in a modular manner referring to different kinds of spacecraft, including retrievable satellites, communication satellites, meteorological satellites, remote sensing satellites, navigation satellites, manned spaceflight, and space science, comparing China's achievements with international standards. End Page 731 The author is sensitive to the policy of space in China. For example, he repeatedly points out that it was not until the launch of the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) in 1983 that space technology became one of the priority areas of the political elite, but unfortunately, he does not explain how this program worked. Moreover, the author's evaluation of the development of space science in China is neither accurate nor comprehensive, appearing to be a patchwork of fragmented information. The book does not mention that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has become a comprehensive leader of space science and launched the China Space Science Pilot Project. The book analyzes China's space program from national grand strategies and geopolitical context; for example, the space station is considered to be a political tool to make China a "rising great power." However, he does not discuss the context of the complex China-India geopolitics at all, which could have been a valuable addition to scholarship. The discussion on the informal personal network between political elites and space scientists complements the mesolevel history of organizational change. However, the inner technological development path of space science and technology should be discussed more deeply. Similar to the United States and Soviet Union, China's aerospace development generally followed the concept of "military-civilian integration," and it's often difficult to strictly separate them. However, regarding China's space technology management system, the author's analysis still appears to be somewhat arbitrary. When discussing the Chinese Long March rocket, he provides a lot of technical information but does not reflect on the characteristics of its technological evolution that distinguish it from its European and American counterparts. Moreover, the author basically doesn't mention the flourishing commercial space development in China and the role of private enterprises in this development. Overall, this book has its shining points and deepens our understanding of the development of China's different space programs, and the author's analytical approach can provide reference for colleagues. However, it has room for improvement and expansion. This book does not summarize the full picture of the facts, especially in the human space flight program and China's military satellites. Future research should pay more attention to the impact of space exploration...
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.