Washington has beaten Beijing by a landslide in satellites placed in orbit, but the Chinese have fired more rockets than the Americans

The champions of 2021: China, the United States and the unstoppable Elon Musk

photo_camera PHOTO/SpaceX - Of the 51 US space launches, more than half (31) have been carried out by the Falcon 9 of Elon Musk's SpaceX company, which has put nearly 1,000 Starlink satellites into space in the past year alone

The year that has just ended can be described as extraordinary on the space front. And not precisely because of the impact of COVID-19, but because of the high number of launches, the enormous number of satellites, probes and spacecraft placed in outer space and the great significance of what has been achieved.

The nations that have undisputedly dominated the global space sector remain China and the United States, vying to discover traces of life on the surface or underground of Mars and to demonstrate their scientific and technological superiority to the international community. But between them, they have broken the record in the history of astronautics for the number of satellites placed in orbit and, between them, the number of annual space launches.

The Chinese Zhurong rover and NASA's Perseverance laboratory-on-wheels with the Spanish MEDA weather station were positioned on the Red Planet in February, where they continue to explore. Alongside them is the US mini-helicopter Ingenuity, which made its inaugural liftoff into the Martian atmosphere on 19 April. It was an unprecedented event, as it was the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet, lasting 39 seconds.

El vehículo de ruedas chino Zhurong (en imagen) se encuentra desde febrero rodando sobre Marte para intentar demostrar a la comunidad internacional la superioridad científica y tecnológica de Pekín

In early February, the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab country to reach Martian orbit, while China once again reiterated its determination to be a major player in outer space and in April began construction of its announced Tianhe Space Station. When completed at the end of 2022, it will become the second inhabited orbital complex that, simultaneously with the International Space Station (ISS), will circle the Earth and will be an important laboratory for experimentation. 

The year just ended also opened wide the doors to suborbital space tourism, but for the rich. Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have already had the opportunity to launch their respective projects, with which they intend to lead an incipient market that offers great thrills for those who can afford them.

Los presidentes Joe Biden y Xi Jinping celebraron su primer encuentro oficial el 16 de noviembre por videoconferencia. Las agencias espaciales de ambos han acaparado en su casi el 75% de los lanzamientos de 2021
Washington's strength lies in Elon Musk's strength

The New Shepard capsule from Bezos' Blue Origin company successfully completed its first three flights. In July it climbed above 100 kilometres with three passengers, in October with four, and in December another six crew members experienced it, orbiting up to more than 500 kilometres, above the ISS and the Hubble Space Telescope. Richard Branson's SpaceShipTwo did not go higher than 86 kilometres in July, but allowed the Briton and his five passengers to feel the effects of microgravity on their bodies.

In quantitative terms, a total of 145 orbital launches have been carried out worldwide, which is 27.19% more than the number of launches carried out in 2020, which was 114. This number represents a new historical record, surpassing the 139 achieved in 1967, in the middle of the Cold War between the Kremlin and the White House.

Achieving 145 liftoffs in 12 months means a frenetic rate of firings: 1 every 2.5 days, that is, almost 3 launches per week. The main protagonists have been China and the United States, a head-to-head contest in which Beijing has won with 55 launches (38% of the total), just over one per week. Washington had to settle for second place, with 51 launches (35.2%), which means that between them the two countries accounted for 73.2% of all launches. The European Space Agency (ESA) had 6 launches, Japan another 3, India 2, but one failed, and Iran another 2, both of which failed.

El año concluyó con un importante fracaso para Rusia. El despegue el 27 de diciembre del lanzador pesado Angara A5 todavía en fase de desarrollo resultó un fracaso debido a un fallo de su etapa superior

In terms of platforms deployed in space, Joe Biden has won by a landslide over Xi Jinping, with more than a thousand to less than a hundred on the Chinese side. In this case, the leadership has not come from NASA but from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Washington has granted free reign to his companies and projects and the tycoon has been able to make good use of his privileges.

With his reliable Falcon 9 launcher, he has made 31 flights into space. With three of them, Musk has demonstrated that his manned Dragon capsule already meets all the requirements for carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), which gives the United States back the autonomy to travel into space and not depend on the Russian Soyuz manned capsules.

El telescopio espacial James Webb fue el gran proyecto científico de 2021. Pero otro de gran trascendencia fue el lanzamiento en diciembre de IXPE (en imagen), un observatorio conjunto de la NASA y la Agencia Espacial Italiana para estudiar los rayos X de los agujeros negros, púlsares y núcleos de galaxias activas
A successful end to the year for Washington and a failure for Moscow

The vast majority of Falcon 9's liftoffs have served to place no less than 989 Starlink satellites in orbit, the mega constellation that offers broadband internet anywhere in the world, which already has 1,823 platforms in orbit. In addition, the tycoon has demonstrated that his rockets are recoverable, which makes his costs cheaper than those of his strongest competitors, the powerful industrial corporations Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The year ended with the huge success of the launch on 25 December of the James Webb infrared space telescope, the major joint science project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies. And with the major failure of the third flight of the Angara A5, the heavy launcher still under development in Russia, which failed to successfully complete its mission on 27 December due to a failure of its upper stage. 

The number of unmanned missions was far higher than the number of manned missions, which totalled nine. Three missions departed from Russia and the same number from the United States, all of them to take astronauts to the International Space Station and back. Another three have taken off from China, carrying crews for the new orbital complex that Beijing is building on its own.

Con la estación meteorológica española MEDA, el sofisticado laboratorio Perseverance de la NASA se posó sobre Marte en febrero y logró el hito de hacer volar en la atmósfera marciana el mini helicóptero Ingenuity, que efectuó su despegue inaugural el 19 de abril

Russia remains the main supporter of the ISS. It has successfully docked two more modules to the ISS - Nauka and Prichal - its Soyuz capsules remain the main astronaut transport and its Progress automated spacecraft carry the largest cargo of supplies and spare parts. But despite Putin's efforts to climb the rankings, Moscow has been relegated to third place with only 25 launches - 17.24% of the total - far behind Washington and Beijing.

And while the US private sector is committed to developing vehicles that can carry tourists back and forth in a few hours to feel the sensation of weightlessness, Russia's space agency (Roscosmos) continues to support the presence on the ISS of those who can afford to stay on board with a lot of millions of dollars.

El año 2021 ha establecido un nuevo récord histórico. Se han efectuado 145 despegues, lo que representa incrementar en un 27,19% la cifra de los realizados en 2020, que fueron 114, y sobrepasar la cifra de 139 del año 1967

The latest was the whimsical Japanese internet fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa (46), accompanied by his personal assistant Yozo Hirano, who spent a dozen days on the international station in December. The pair took over from film director Klim Shipenko and Russian actress Yulia Peresild, who in October shot scenes for the forthcoming film 'The Challenge' set in space. Last but not least, this year looks set to be much more exciting than the recently concluded 2021. We will soon begin to see for ourselves.

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