China is considering setting up satellites armed with missiles that could orbit around the moon to protect earth from asteroid strikes, according to a Chinese space research paper published last Wednesday. Optical telescopes could be placed on the moon’s south and north poles to monitor the skies, Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme, was quoted as saying in a report by South China Morning Post, which added that there could also be armed satellites to combat incoming threats and telescopes pointed back towards Earth to protect China’s national security.
However, the US is “wary of the real motives of China’s plans”, a report in AS USA said, which quoted NASA director Bill Nelson as saying “We should be very worried that China is going to land on the Moon and say: ‘Now it is ours and you stay out'” – comments which Beijing said were “a great threat” to the peaceful use of space.
- By Alfie Habershon
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