Am I missing something? Hasn’t this been known for years now? I think they previously commented on this before.

That’s what the 7 TRILLION dollars they are seeking are for.

you will still need a phone number to sign up for Signal

From signals official blog, yes you do

The fact that NASA had to rely on Roscosmos in the first place is shameful. It highlights long standing issues facing the space program. I think some of these problems trace back to the cost of the ISS. It’s been hard to convey the importance and investment into the future the station provides.

For China their station provides proof of concept that they can achieve similar results one day both to themselves and the world watching.

The amount of money spent on Apollo was insane. A reduced budget should have been sufficient. It’s just been weighted down by shit cost-plus contracts and the abomination that is SLS.

The fear of China here is that they are basically single handedly their closest competitor. They’re the only other nation thats managed a Mars Rover landing, building space station, and have their own plans for Moon and Mars with taikonauts( astronaut equivalent) on the ground in the future.

no living creatures to cause it to rot

Soon termites will evolve for space environment. On a serious note this does seem cool. The amount of satellites going to burn like disposable starlink ones will be an issue. This prototype is small, but this would be good for cubesats.